Lifestyle

The Cameroonian, the son of a retired computer engineer in Bamenda, a major city in northwest Cameroon, is delighted with his acquisition. "Tong Muzi is my Chinese dad," the exuberant 22-year-old said, hugging a shy bespectacled Chinese gentleman who looked bemused by all this attention. "He was my mentor all through my stay. I could wake him up in the middle of the night if I wanted something. He was always there for me."

From being just one of the thousands of Cameroonian fresh graduates looking for a job after college, Asanji became a celebrity of sorts in China, followed by hundreds of fans on social media, thanks to what is one of China's most popular reality shows today.

When it started in 2002, no one could have guessed the Chinese Bridge - Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students would one day catch the fancy of youngsters worldwide so ardently. After all, organized by the Confucius Institute Headquarters and the People's Government of Hunan, it is basically a tough academic exercise to adjudge which foreign student knows the Chinese language and culture best. Yet the 14th edition of the contest this year drew students from 97 countries and regions. Started in March, regionwise eliminations resulted in a shortlist of 133 who came to China for nearly a month-long stay to prove their mettle.

A new passion

Once, it would have been inconceivable that hundreds of young people worldwide would give up their normal pursuits for months and go into rigorous training to learn Chinese, a language considered difficult to master, and soak up information about China's history, geography, trade and the Chinese way of life. And the prizes to be won are not the million-dollar contracts offered by TV reality shows, or posh cars or even designer wardrobes. The winners get scholarships to study - yes, more Chinese in China.

Take other academic contests, the International Math Olympiad or the U.S. Spelling Bee Contest, for instance. You do not see famous film and pop stars vying to be associated with them, or youngsters staying up till midnight to cheer their favorite contestants, or nubile girls clamoring for selfies with the winners.

But all this is happening with the Chinese Bridge contest because it has evolved into a spellbinder that is a cross between America's Got Talent and the British Big Brother with a dash of the Oscars.

Petra Thiel, a Sinologist with the Confucius Institute at the Heidelberg University and one of the four judges at the final on August 2, explains what gives the event its dynamism. "It is not just a Chinese language exercise anymore," she said. "It was a whole package with how you perform on stage and your knowledge of day-to-day affairs in China counting as much as your proficiency in Chinese. I was stunned by the levels of some of the contestants."

The 133 contestants traveled to different Chinese cities, visited famous cultural sites, and stayed with Chinese families for an authentic savoring of Chinese culture. The six finalists were chosen on the basis of both their language skills and their acting, music and dancing abilities.

In May, the contest hit the headlines in Africa, especially in South Africa and Cameroon, when African students were shortlisted. At an event organized by the Confucius Institute on the campus of the International Relations Institute of Cameroon, Asanji beat 10 close contestants to become the chosen one.

Though he had been studying Chinese for just 10 months, Asanji showed remarkable progress, subsequently making it to the top 10. This echelon also included Mogolo Kepalotse Ramalebang, a 28-year-old from Botswana, who said she began studying Chinese so that she could communicate with her friend's family.

Returning warmth with warmth

"I became friends with a Chinese girl I met in Malaysia and visited China on her invitation," Ramalebang said. "Her family spoke only Chinese. Their warmth made me determined to learn Chinese so that the next time I visit them I can have a direct conversation with them."

Asanji, who also made it to the list of the six finalists, said he began learning Chinese for better career prospects. "The relationship between China and Cameroon is very good," he said, wide awake and brimming with energy even though it was midnight after the grand finale had ended in hot and humid Changsha City, capital of Hunan Province. "Many of the big development projects in Cameroon are being constructed by Chinese companies. I know English and French and with Chinese, I can get a good job. Besides, I really love the Chinese culture."

China and Cameroon established diplomatic ties in 1971. According to the China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chinese Government provides scholarships for Cameroonian students and in 1989, established a microbe laboratory in Yaounde University. From 1975, Chinese medical teams began to be sent to Cameroon.

Asanji said he found echoes of Cameroon in China with its 56 ethnic groups. "We too have many ethnic groups in Cameroon," he said. "And then there is music."

While studying Chinese at the Confucius Institute, Asanji also learned how to play the erhu, the two-stringed musical instrument known as the "Chinese violin." It was this instrument he played in a moving little tableau enacted at the grand finale that provided not just entertainment but also a glimpse of China's history and culture.

It was a vignette of a Chinese armada arriving in an African country and the officials becoming friends with the locals. When the fleet was about to depart, some of the mariners opted to stay back. It was a reminder of Chinese Admiral Zheng He reaching the east African coast in the 15th century, way ahead of European explorers. He brought friendship and fair trade. There were no annexations and no taking of captives for slavery.

Such voyages led to Chinese men settling down on African soil and marrying African women, giving rise to a new Sino-African line. When the skit ended, one such descendant appeared on stage, talking about her African-Chinese heritage and her father's exhortation to never forget her Chinese legacy.

Language ambassadors

Bradley Meredith, a 21-year-old New Zealander, won by a hair's breadth. The Brad Pitt-look alike had an advantage, having spent part of his childhood in China. Asanji was delighted with the result. "I am so glad Bradley won," he said. "New Zealand had not been among the finalists before. The first time they made it there, they hit the jackpot."

The Chinese Bridge program has done what no reality show has achieved - made the participants one family, thinking nothing of their own failures but reveling in another's success.

Hunan is known as the birthplace of Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic of China. It is also where Hollywood director James Cameroon shot his 2009 film Avatar. Now the province has another claim to fame, the Chinese Bridge competition.

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