Produced by StarTimes Media, the documentary series is now airing on ST Swahili, ST Guide and multiple major mainstream TV stations across Africa. When a Malagasy geology PhD student sings folk songs on stage, a Kenyan international student captures Beijing’s red walls and grey rooftops with his camera, and a Nigerian host tells Chinese stories in Hausa — the city of Beijing is writing a new chapter for Nigeria-China exchanges in its own unique way.
Each episode of runs 10 minutes. It follows several African young people from diverse backgrounds to explore all corners of Beijing, displaying the city’s unique geographical features and humanistic charm.
Brian, a Kenyan international student, loves wandering around Beijing’s streets and alleys and sharing his vision of the city with African audiences on social media. He describes his impression of Beijing: “Red is the underlying color of this city, while grey represents the texture of daily life.”
Mandranto from Madagascar is a PhD student at China University of Geosciences. He spends his days analyzing mineral spectra in the laboratory, and at night plays the guitar in Wudaokou bars, singing songs from his motherland together with Chinese folk music. He said: “Spectra are the fingerprints of stones. Every stone has its own unique spectrum, just like every person has their own unique song.”Nuru from Nigeria is a Hausa-language host. His life in Beijing is both a career pursuit and an active journey to get close to Chinese culture. He cycles through city parks, travels thousands of kilometers by high-speed rail, and experiences the innovative dynamism at E-Town International Circuit.
With his storytelling, Nuru builds a cultural bridge between China and Africa.As an important part of StarTimes’ Nigeria-China Cultural Exchange project, adopts an innovative narrative style of “African perspectives + Chinese stories”. Co-produced by Nigerian and Chinese teams, the documentary truly presents Beijing’s urban landscape while fitting the viewing habits of Nigerian audiences.
It aims to show Nigerian audiences a real, vivid and all-round Beijing — not only a time-honored cultural city, but also an international metropolis full of opportunities.
