CulturalOdyssey

　　Magdi Shanouda， a 40-year-old Sudanese，is busy handing out souvenir pins to visitors at theBeijing Garden Expo. It’s an early summer’s day inthe Chinese capital and Shanouda， who managesthe expo’s Sudanese Pavilion， hopes his country’snational flag decorating the pin will raise awarenessabout Sudan.

　　“I hope visitors will remember my country whenlooking at the flag pin，” he told ChinAfrica. “This is agood opportunity for visitors to learn more about ourcountry， and hopefully in the future， they may travelto Sudan，” he said.

　　The expo site covers an area of 513 hectares andis occupied by 128 individual exhibition parks. FourAfrican countries are participating： Cameroon， Egypt，Ethiopia and Sudan.

　　Presenting African culture

　　The Sudanese Pavilion is shaped like a traditionalAfrican thatched hut. Images depicting elephants，giraffes and zebras are painted on the outside wallsof the pavilion， and the Sudanese national flag， a mapof the country and traditional masks hang from thebuilding’s eaves.

　　Inside the pavilion， drums， masks， and stone andwood sculptures are neatly displayed on shelves，while pictures of Sudan’s environment， plants， cropsand animals decorate the walls.

　　When visitors find something of interest， Shanoudada

　　gives them some background， listing the materialsused to make the piece and explaining its culturalmeanings. All of the handicrafts on display in thepavilion were brought to China from Sudan， accordingto Shanouda.

　　Apart from selling artwork and handicrafts， Shanoudabelieves the expo is also a rich and fun opportunityfor cultural exchange. “Culture can link peoplewhen language is an obstacle，” he explained， addingthat the exhibition was not only for Chinese visitors，but also for people from other parts of the world.

　　Mohamed Elmorshdy， who runs the EgyptianPavilion， echoed Shanouda’s thoughts on culture.“Egypt has a history of over 5，000 years； it’s as longas China’s. The things we display， such as papyruspaintings and statues of pyramids and Pharaohs，all showcase the long traditions of our country，” hesaid.

　　One side of the wall of the Egyptian Pavilion iscovered with papyrus paintings. “Those paintingsdepict scenes from ancient Egyptian daily life andmythology， and gods and goddesses. They bring thepast alive，” he said.

　　Ide Nkameni， a Cameroonian dealer in Africanart based in Yiwu， a city in east China’s ZhejiangProvince， brought a large number of African masks，traditional garments and musical instruments todecorate the Cameroonian Pavilion.

　　Nkameni said that although mask ceremonies arenot as common in Africa as they once were， masksare still looked at as an important part of Africanculture and history.

　　“Masks were an important part of the traditionofdifferent African tribes. These masks were associatedwith different kinds of rituals and ceremonies andwere an integral part of our tribal culture，” she said.

　　“Some Chinese ethnic minorities also have masksin their cultures. I hope Chinese visitors can relate tothe African masks on display here，” she added.

　　The African pavilions offer attendees more thanjust a visual feast. Visitors to the Ethiopian Pavilioncan taste original Ethiopian coffee and watch atraditional coffee-making ceremony. “Ethiopia is thebirthplace of coffee， and the coffee ceremony is anintegral part of our social and cultural life，” said BelenGirma， a staff member of the pavilion， which is runby Ruian Best International Trading Co.， a companybased in Zhejiang Province.

　　Apart from tasting coffee， visitors can also buyEthiopian coffee beans， coffee cups and pots. Otheritems on sale at the pavilion include handicrafts，paintings， scarves， shoes， bags and traditionalmusical instruments such as the masinko， aviolin-like instrument widely played in Ethiopia.

　　High expectations

　　The Beijing Garden Expo’s Africanpavilionsare proving popular with Chinese visitors.

　　Ma Yazhuo， a 27-year-old who traveledfrom Shijiazhuang City of Hebei Provincesaid this is the first time she has seen somany things from Africa.

　　“I learned some things about Africancountries and their cultures through TVprograms， and the expo is a great chanceto see more of African culture，” she said.But she feels that African culture is farricher than what is on display and sheexpects that there would be pavilions representingmore African countries.

　　Another visitor， Li Na， agreed with Ma’s view.

　　“Apart from seeing African handicrafts and productsfor sale， I want to learn more about African cultures.Because of the language barrier， it would be better ifsome materials in Chinese are available， introducingan African country and its culture，” she suggested.

　　Huang Jianhua， a 57-year-old who is more interestedin African handicrafts， said he had hoped fora wider variety of African goods on display， and thatpavilions would offer brief introductions to theirgoods.

　　The managers of the African pavilionsalso had high expectations for this expo.

　　Shanouda said he had placed high expectation

　　on the expo， but his business in thefirst 15 days after the expo opened was notsatisfying.

　　He said that the expo’s internationalarea needs more exposure for business toincrease. “We hope the organizers can domore advertising and promotion for theinternational area to attract more visitors，”he said.

　　While other African pavilion manager sexpressed similar concerns， they areoptimistic that business will gradually pickup during the 185 days of the exhibition，which runs until November 18. CA

　　Africa’s exotic culture represented at the Beijing Garden ExpoBy Liu Jian

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