By Hou Weili

Byron Jacobs is learning kungfu, the Chinese martial art, in Beijing; Grant Horsfield has founded a green tourism project, Naked Retreats, in Shanghai; Mark O'Connell is running a golf business in China while architect Ian Hamlinton is helping villagers in Yangshuo, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, refurbish shabby houses into comfortable and distinctive family inns to attract tourists.

What do they have in common? They are all South Africans living in China. And now, they are all subjects of a documentary.

South Africans in China, a 12-episode documentary on a dozen South Africans working in China, premiered in Beijing on June 24 to celebrate the ongoing 2015 Year of China in South Africa festivities and enhance the friendship and understanding between the two countries.

"We chose the best from the best South African representatives living and working in China," said Wang Zhe, the documentary's director, at the premiere.

The other protagonists in the series come from diverse walks of life - education, art, sport and communications.

Dolana Msimang, South African Ambassador to China, said the documentary would show the experiences of South Africans living in China to a broader audience in China and South Africa, stimulating more interest to learn about the other country and its culture.

South Africans in China will be broadcast via the traditional and new media of both China and South Africa. It will be available on CRIENGLISH.com, China.com, Youku, YouTube and Tencent. Beijing TV will broadcast one episode every night beginning July 11. eTV, South Africa's largest English commercial TV station, will present it to the domestic audience in the near future.