Dear Chinese Consulates!

I need to get a chinese visa for me and my partner.
We are norwegians (Norway, Europe). At the moment we are in Italy, but we do NOT live in Italy. We are visiting friends.
We will travel to China in February. Can we go to the Firenze consulate for applying for this visa?
Will it be a problem for us since we apply for a chinese visa now when we are in italy? Since we do not live here.
I hope this can be taken care of, because I cannot afford to fly back to Norway to apply for this and come back to Italy.
Can you tell me the opening hours for the Firenze consulate before New Years? Do they have normal opening hours before new years, or are they closed?
I have a long way, so I need to know for sure that the Firenze consulate is open when I come.
I just need to know that I can get a visa because I am buying flight tickets within two days. Just so I know that I wont get any problems with this after my tickets are issued.
Thank you so much for your kind reply.
Sincerely Jone Grini