日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / China-Africa

Marriages bridge Chinese-Kenyan cultural differences

By Lucie Morangi in Nairobi, Kenya | China Daily | Updated: 2019-02-11 07:21
Share
Share - WeChat
Ya Xing and Ruth Njeri. They shared the stage during the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in Beijing in 2011. [Photo by Lucie Morangi/China Daily]

Three years ago, Ya Xing married Ruth Njeri before his friends and family in China. His peers considered him brave for starting a new life in Kenya but the ebullient entrepreneur, once a TV host, did not think so.

"I am in love," he said. "It might be complicated to marry into a new culture, but I think people think too much about it."

Ya, 40, was born in Luoyang, an industrial city in central China's Henan province. He met Njeri, 34, from Nairobi, Kenya, in a restaurant in Shanghai while she was studying under a Chinese government scholarship. At that time, they were both participating in the World Expo before meeting again in Beijing during the 60th anniversary of foreign students in China.

"It was fate," said Ya.

They are among the new faces defining Sino-African relations. People-to-people exchanges, riding on the back of education, commerce and diplomacy, have buoyed interracial marriages. such marriages has elicit widespread curiosity about these couples, who admit to responding to numerous requests from strangers to take picture with them.

Moreover, in China, these couples have large numbers of followers on social media platforms. Last year, Beijing Youth Daily reported that a Chinese-Cameroonian couple in Liaoning province earned $1,000 a month in advertising revenue from streaming their lives online.

Although earning no income from them, Ya and Njeri often welcome media crews from China into their home in Nairobi to document their lives. Moreover, they often travel to China to sing in cultural events while responding to a growing fan base on WeChat. They field questions on how they deal with cultural differences.

South African scholar David Monyae believes that such experiences may well pave the way for bettering Sino-African trade ties where culture and language continue to be the biggest impediments.

He has noted growing interest among African youths in understanding cultures. The African philosophy of "Ubuntu" is not far from Confucianism as both emphasize sharing and caring, according to Monyae.

"In Ubuntu, we believe that 'I am because of you', which means I cannot exist in your absence. Your well-being is good for me as well. For me to get peace in my life, I have to make sure that my neighbor is not hungry and there's peace in my neighbor's house," Monyae was quoted as saying.

Yet Ya faced challenges when he settled with Njeri in Nairobi. To earn a living, they opened a business that soon collapsed because the location and concept were not good. He had difficulties communicating with his in-laws despite successfully performing the traditional bride price ceremony known as ruracio.

"It was hard to fit in at first. But I wanted to understand her background, history and culture," he said.

Studies of interracial marriages have shown that education plays an important role in breaching cultural divides.

Interestingly, there has been a notable surge in the number of Africans pursuing higher studies in China. In 2017, at least 62,000 African students were enrolled in China, a 24 percent jump from 2016. There are more than 2,000 Kenyans alone studying in China, according to the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi.

The number of Chinese-Kenyan marriages has also started to creep up. The Kenyan government received 13 requests for the certificate of "no impediment" to marriage in 2018 compared to eight in 2017. This document is required for a Kenyan to marry anyone outside the country.

For those in China, the time to obtain the certificate has been drastically reduced due to improved logistics between the two countries.

Njeri finds Ya's diligence and persistence endearing. "Despite the difficulties in language and culture, Ya never gave up. He still looked for the positive aspects of my culture," she said.

And he found it. The talented musician said that in Kikuyu, Njeri's home district, people have traditional songs similar to those sung by the Dong people of southern China. "The tune and even the ululation are similar."

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产高清视频一区二区 | 亚洲网视频| 久久久无码精品一区二区三区 | 国产亚洲精品久久久久久老妇 | 亚洲精品乱码 | 久久久久久国产精品免费免费狐狸 | 久久综合丝袜日本网 | 国产在线观看www鲁啊鲁免费 | 在线成人免费观看视频 | 久草这里只有精品 | 国产亚洲欧美一区 | 国产手机在线αⅴ片无码观看 | 国产成人精品一区二区在线 | 在线观看免费国产视频 | 日本欧美久久久久免费播放网 | 在线观看国产wwwa级羞羞视频 | 国产精品自在线 | 911色_911色sss主站色播 | 成人欧美一区在线视频在线观看 | 四虎884aa永久播放地址http | 中文字幕一区在线观看视频 | 欧美影院在线 | 挑战者联盟第一季免费观看完整版 | 日本视频在线免费观看 | 免费观看毛片 | 日韩在线不卡 | 女人a级毛片19毛水真多 | 精品免费| 91不卡在线 | 亚洲午夜成激人情在线影院 | 成年人在线视频网站 | 丁香六月伊人 | 大香伊人久久精品一区二区 | 日本一级高清不卡视频在线 | 日韩一区二区中文字幕 | 成人性生活视频在线观看 | 天天干夜夜曰 | 99热久久国产精品这里有9 | 在线国产一区二区 | 欧美午夜在线 | 天天碰夜夜 |