Chinese food here taste different from those in China – Xiangdong

How did your diplomatic service start?My university major is English. After graduation, I picked interest in working abroad. There is a saying in China that one should read at least ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles around the world and make friends to finish one’s career. As a diplomat, this is my dream. What […]

How did your diplomatic service start?
My university major is English. After graduation, I picked interest in working abroad. There is a saying in China that one should read at least ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles around the world and make friends to finish one’s career. As a diplomat, this is my dream.

What did you know of Nigeria before you came?
Very little asides that oil production is rich. What’s been most puzzling for me is that the country lacks energy, power. Although I haven’t travelled much yet around the country, I must say my opinion of what I see and what I heard has changed. For two to three months, I took time to read up on Nigeria before I came to give me a broader sense of the country.

What will you be doing as cultural counsellor?
Mainly to promote cultural exchanges on the government level between the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Nigeria’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism as well as government funded institutions in performing art, culture relics protection and other related things.

How much would you say that China has impacted on Nigeria, culturally?
For now it’s a bit difficult to say. In my first couple of days here, I noticed several things. I’m stricken that many people here are learning Chinese Language. I also see there are many restaurants here and the most popular are the Chinese ones.
From what I’ve seen, the menu is basically the same but the raw foods, spices and some of the condiments are different and not so Chinese. Therefore the taste is different. This is also affected by the skills of the cook. Sometimes in cooking they have to take into consideration the taste of the local people.

You talked about a lot of people learning Chinese, if there are so many why does it cost so much?
I think a major reason is the lack of teachers. Again, because the language is quite popular, the teacher training is difficult.

How does China intend to preserve its culture here?
This is something I have to think about daily for the three years I will be here. There are several points of my thoughts. Promoting Chinese culture is my job and this is only one direction of showing Chinese art for people to learn. My thinking is to take it in another direction to share it as well as introduce new dimensions. The cultural centre is a good platform for me to realise my idea. I regard it as a restaurant and from China, materials will be provided for me. We will add the local flavour and what the people like. My plan is for us to set up volunteer groups from among the people which will give suggestions on the things they would like to learn about Chinese culture and art. These will be forwarded to our Ministry of Culture. I’m also thinking of a cultural industry corporation. In Nigeria, Nollywood is so popular but in China, few people know it. We’ve room for some corporation. For example, nobody knows Startimes in China but here it is very big and they seem to have made some very good progress in technology and promoting Chinese culture here.

Are you looking at situations for collaboration between Nollywood and the Chinese film industry?
At the moment I’m investigating and can’t give any details on what isn’t yet concrete. I’m learning more and will see the possibility.

Kung fu is popular culture in China but in Nigeria it’s still more or less an elitist affair. How do you intend to promote it in Nigeria?
People have indicated interest in t’ai chi and king fu. First we need a team of stable Chinese instructors. The second thing is to try to teach Nigerians the importance and raise awareness of kung fu because in China we regard it as health maintenance. There are many ways to maintain your health including medicine, culture and art. Depending on the season, you could use kung fu and the medicine to stay healthy. This is the idea we should introduce to Nigerians.

Against this, many Nigerians love to buy ginseng based items or Chinese green teas off the shelf. What do you think about the use of these products?
It’s nice that Nigerians are health conscious but there could be the possibility of abuse and wrong usage because they don’t know the functions of the different ginsengs and may not even know there are different ones for different purposes. It’s a different type for young people and different type for the aged. In China it isn’t encouraged for everybody to use ginseng. Doctors encourage checks to be carried out first so that the person knows what exactly he or she needs. Green tea varies according to regions and the temperatures and are therefore not for everybody. It also good for digestive system but people are warned against drinking it when they have colds.