During the Dragon Boat Festival, international students from Congo (DRC) and other countries painted eggs in Xinjinjiang Community, Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province. Photo by Shi Yucheng (People’s Photo)
In the hot summer sun, the column group “I am an ambassador in China” walked into the DRC Embassy in China. The Congolese (DRC) ambassador to China, Balumuene, told us: “The President asked me to do more work to promote cultural exchanges between Congo and China.” Speaking of cultural exchanges, the ambassador shared his experience of celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival after coming to China, ” I like eating zongzi very much.” Eating zongzi is not only food, but also a long-standing Chinese culture. He said: “China has thousands of years of civilization, and its excellent traditional culture is extensive and profound. We are very interested in Chinese culture.” “I hope to promote Congolese (Kinshasa) art groups to perform in China and show Chinese friends our multiculturalism.” The ambassador said that he also plans to invite some Chinese art groups to visit Congo (Kinshasa), so that more Congolese (Kinshasa) People appreciate the beauty of Chinese culture.
In the DRC Embassy in China, we saw a glass-made bamboo screen. Is there any relationship between Congo (Kinshasa) and giant pandas? Ambassador Balumuene introduced that although there are no giant pandas with white faces and dark circles under the eyes of Congo (DRC), there is a national treasure of the “giant panda” level, the Okapi. In the ambassador’s office, the image of Okapi can be seen everywhere, in the paintings on the walls, in the wood carvings in the bookcases, and in the protagonists in the picture albums. The okapi is a mysterious and peculiar animal, with crimson oily fur like gorgeous brocade, zebra-striped legs, a giraffe-like face, and a long giraffe-like tongue that clears its eyes and ears. Ambassador Balumuene spoke of the special features of the okapi with great interest, “This is a unique animal in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the okapi is our ‘giant panda’.”
In addition to Okapi and giant panda, Ambassador Balumuene also hopes to find more connection points between the two cultures. He took out a picture book introducing the Congolese (Kinshasa) style from the bookshelf. From the picture book, we can see that the models in different national costumes show the splendor of the Congo (Kinshasa) culture. “Hundreds of ethnic groups live in the vast Congo (Kinshasa), and different ethnic groups have created cultural diversity and richness. This is also very similar to China.” The ambassador laughed. (Overseas Network Lu Ningyuan)
“People’s Daily Overseas Edition” (July 25, 2022 Issue 08)