Nie Xiaohua with her Nigerian husband Prince and their two baby girls in Guangzhou

Being far from home didn't put much of a damper on Muhammed Ceesay's festive holiday celebrations. The Ghanaian spent his Christmas Eve with his Chinese girlfriend at a Brazilian restaurant in Guangzhou, to celebrate the occasion as well as her birthday.

"She is beautiful and we are happy to be together even though there are some cultural differences," Ceesay told ChinAfrica.

As an entrepreneur engaged in the trading business in Guangzhou, Ceesay is one of the many Africans who have forged a deep connection to the city by having a relationship with and then marrying a Chinese woman.

A deep connection

Ceesay's increasing comfort with his surroundings is partly a result of Guangzhou locals' growing acceptance of foreigners, especially Africans. "[Local people] don't keep their distance and look at these guys with curiosity as they did in the beginning when just a few Africans came here, but are accepting them as part of the city now," Nie Xiaohua, a local woman who married a Nigerian in 2010, told ChinAfrica. She now has two baby girls and runs a stall at Canaan Export Clothes Trade Center with her Nigerian husband, selling clothes to African retailers.

make friends with Prince [her husband] when we first met in 2008," Nie said, recalling that she was attracted by her husband's honesty, diligence and sincerity.

In May 2011, she had her first baby girl. Living in a family with a Nigerian father and a Chinese mother, the little girl looks African but is undoubtedly Chinese as well. "She speaks fluent Guangzhou dialect, but just a little English. Like other children her age here, she likes to watch Chinese cartoons like Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf," Nie said.

While such interracial marriages like Nie's are born from love, it also gives Nie's husband added advantages when it comes to business and getting long-term visas. "With my wife, I can have this business. I can buy a house and a car. If I didn't have her, it wouldn't be [so] easy," Prince said in fluent Chinese.

Cultural challenges

However it has not been easy for the couple to establish their life together. They had to overcome their parents' objections. "Believing in Chinese traditions that a marriage should be between two families of similar culture as well as matched social and economic status, my parents took an uncompromising stand against our love," said Nie.

For Felly Mwamba, a 38-year-old trader from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, cultural norms run against the idea of marrying a Chinese woman.

"My parents, especially my father, doesn't want me to have a Chinese wife because in our culture parents expect me to have more children," said Mwamba, who plans to spend the Spring Festival holiday in China to escape the many blind dates arranged by his parents back home.

It was Prince's hard work, entrepreneurship and loyalty that finally convinced Nie's parents. "At the beginning, we had only 10,000 yuan ($1,652) as the startup fund for our business. But Prince went from one factory to another to find the most suitable supplies with his broken Chinese and buyers who give reasonable offers," Nie said.

Despite their stable family life, Nie and Prince's marriage is once again being tested by a bleak business environment with rising costs, intensive competition, fluctuating exchange rates and E-commerce all putting the squeeze on their operation. "Things got tough since 2011. I have only sold about 500 pairs of jeans each month for about four months. In the peak period we saw monthly revenue of 200,000 yuan ($33,040)," Nie said.

Now she is considering transforming the business, but is not sure what direction to take. "You may find that the stories of Guangzhou being a place with unimaginable wealth are just a fairy tale after you arrive. Finding success in Guangzhou is not a one-day thing, but needs hardwork, honesty, persistence and networking," said Nie, warning those Africans who plan to come to China to be prudent in their preparations.