CULTURAL EXPORTS: Dance

But A Beautiful Daughter-in-Law Era is expected to be the biggest highlight of Chinese Culture in Focus 2011.

"[It] shows ordinary people's lives today," Yu says of the television show. "We dubbed it into Swahili because it's the most widely used African language, the language of ordinary people." The show follows a contemporary Chinese family, set against the backdrop of China's economic boom and shifting social structures. Blind dates for the young, remarriage in middle and old age, and in-law dynamics are the meat of the often-humorous show.

While the Tanzania Broadcasting Corp. was involved with Era's Swahili dubbing and distribution, Chinese Culture in Focus events are typically organized by Chinese government agencies, including MOC and African-based Chinese embassies. MOC and first-time participant the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), jointly covered travel expenses for the China Disabled People's Performing Arts Troupe.

Chinese Culture in Focus came into being at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2009. The conference's Sharm el-Sheikh Action Plan (2010-12) proposed that Culture in Focus events should be held alternately in Africa and China on an annual basis. That year, the first of these ran in Africa. This year marks China's second venture at organizing the showcase on the continent.

Yu sums up its function, "Just like we need to learn more about contemporary Africa, Africans are also willing to learn more about contemporary China."