Chinese culture on show in Africa

The soap opera Mao Doudou and Her Sweet Days made a successful debut in various Swahili-speaking countries in eastern Africa in 2011. Experts say Tanzanians will learn about modern China through the series. Provided to China Daily

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Liu Dong, cultural counselor to the Chinese embassy in Tanzania, said the Tanzanian people will learn more about modern China through the TV series.

"They will better understand the developments of China in recent years, as well as the lives of Chinese people. It will deepen the friendship between the two countries," he says, echoing a statement of Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda during a visit to Beijing in late October.

Chinese TV shows have been something of a latecomer to African screens. Soap operas from South Korea, the Middle East, the US, India and Europe are more familiar, but they are already gaining fans.

"I've been hearing about the achievements that China has made and how huge the changes have been in the country over the past 30 years, and I've seen some pictures on the Internet," said Paul Udoto, a 36-year-old Tanzanian. "But the TV series, which tell stories of ordinary people, with normal street scenes in China, are more vivid and convincing."

He says he cannot completely understand the background to the shows' storylines because that requires specific knowledge of Chinese culture, but adds that most of the stories resonate with his own feelings, even in an African setting.

"For instance, Africans have the same tensions between a wife and a mother-in-law as Mao does in the Mao Doudou show," he said.

Also, because the show is dubbed into his mother tongue, the scenarios feel more natural, familiar and interesting to him.

Wang Gengnian, director-general of China Radio International, which is responsible for the dubbing work, said the dissemination of information and culture would not be effective unless it was close and respectful to the indigenous culture.

More Chinese TV shows, movies and cartoons will be dubbed in English, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Swahili and Hausa, and aired by African TV stations later this year.

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