09:55
On their second stop in Sichuan Province, African youth delegates attending the Third China-Africa Youth Festival visited the Dujiangyan Base of China's Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda on June 25, 2018.
The festival, themed "Connecting the Dreams of Youth and Creating a New Era for a China-Africa Relationship," is being jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China Soong Ching Ling Foundation and the People's Government of Sichuan Province. The festival attracts more than 100 young delegates coming from 53 African countries and the African Union Commission.
For most of the delegates, this is the first time seeing a real giant panda. “It’s wonderful. Before I only saw pandas in films or on TV or in cartoons. It’s really big and strong with a good appetite,” Kowiyou Adekambi, information engineer of Benin, said. “It looks very well and enjoying its life here.”
The Dujiangyan Base of China's Conservation and Research Center was built by the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, near Qingcheng Mountain, 18 kilometers from Chengdu.
Qingcheng Mountain has a reputation for being a Taoism epicenter and the African youth delegates had a chance to learn Tai Chi from the great master of Qingcheng Mountain.
Antoine Bienaime Obam’ondon, deputy of Gambowa II National Assembly of the Republic of Congo, said, “It’s the first time for me to see a Chinese master perform Tai Chi, it’s amazing. I heard it's good for the body to do Tai Chi.“
Some of the African delegates expressed a strong interest in learning more about Tai Chi, which is traditional and philosophical. Through the exchange of various types of culture, a deeper understanding grows between Chinese and African youth.
This visit was one of the many planned activities for the Third China-Africa Youth Festival, being held from June 20 to June 27 in Beijing and Sichuan.
Mohammed Chafik Kellala, secretary of the General Department of Algeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, snaps a selfie with a panda at the Dujiangyan Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda on June 25, 2018. (Photo: China.org.cn)
