CreatingEverlasting Memories
Bobuafrica encourages responsible travel and hopes that more Chinese can act as cultural ambassadors by communicating in depth with local Africans. This helps us get to know Africa better and vice versa.
Shi Yingying, co-founder, Bobuafrica
More and more Chinese tourists in Africa are looking for experience-based itineraries, such as learning from local craftsmenIMAGINE having front-row seats in the middle of the African savannah to observe the yearly great wildlife migration - a roaring throng of hundreds of thousands of wildebeests and zebras traveling across Tanzania and Kenya in search of better grazing.
This is what Zhang Fang, Professor of Agronomy at Zhejiang University, experienced in August 2016, during his trip to East Africa, which the 63-year-old says is one of the most impressive journeys in which he took part. “Thanks to this trip, I had the opportunity to observe many wild animals, discover picturesque landscapes that are unique to Africa, and take part in interactive activities with local residents. It was memorable and wonderful!”
He owes this extraordinary experience to Bobuafrica, a Chinese social-network platform enabling travelers to discover the continent. To take full advantage of his trip, before departure, Zhang talked several times with Bobuafrica employees, who know the destinations inside out, provided detailed advice and arranged a customized itinerary for him. Then, in the company of an experienced Bobuafrica guide, he embarked with 12 other travel enthusiasts like him on an exceptional 16-day adventure. “What attracted me the most in Bobuafrica was its rich and inspiring information, its personalized routes and powerful tracking services,” Zhang told ChinAfrica.
Created in 2014, Bobuafrica aims at telling the Africa story by offering engaging journeys and selling unique products, enabling Chinese tourists to enjoy a multidimensional experience of the continent’s culture and charm, explains co-founder Shi Yingying.
An African story
Prior to being dispatched to the Xinhua Africa Regional Office in 2010, to deal with the agency’s marketing business in Sub-Saharan Africa, Shi had never set foot in Africa. She confesses that her impression of the continent prior to coming was very different from the real Africa she encountered there.
“One can only discover the real beauty of Africa, which is like a girl hidden under a veil, after having set foot on her land, visited her villages lit up with oil lamps, walked in Kigali’s business district in Rwanda, and dug up from the ground cassava roots with local women,” Shi told ChinAfrica.
In March 2013, while delivering a speech at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Center in Dar es Salaam during his state visit to Tanzania, Chinese President Xi Jinping praised two Chinese young people who had contributed to Sino-Tanzanian friendship. Inspired by this, Shi decided to do something to help improve Sino-African relations. Later, in 2014, after completing her mission with Xinhua News Agency, she returned to Africa to start a new professional career aimed at building bilateral relations, hence the creation of Bobuafrica.
Shi admits that it is rare to read reports about ordinary Africans in the Chinese media. For this reason, she wishes to share on social networks experiences that she had in Africa, so as to bridge the cultural gap between the two peoples. On Bobuafrica’s WeChat platform, users can access information about almost every aspect of African culture: carefully selected tours, typical dishes, emblematic films and especially interesting and sometimes moving stories that reflect the real life of Africans.
Bobuafrica-users have the chance to experience life within local communities, much like Shi Yingying did in Rwanda COURTESY PHOTOSA rewarding journey
Huang He (pseudonym) is a 26-year-old businessman. Having freshly returned from his trip to Tanzania during this year’s Chinese Lunar New Year with Bobuafrica late January, he did not hesitate to share his impressions with ChinAfrica: “This is my third trip to the continent, but before this year, Africa always seemed to me like a foreign friend. But this time, I shook her hand, took her arms, laughed and talked with her. Africa is beginning to take a concrete form for me.”
In addition to traditional tourist experiences, such as safaris and climbing Kilimanjaro Mountain, Huang visited local families and public interest organizations, including Shanga Shangaa, where more than 45 Tanzanian people living with disabilities are employed to make handicrafts like glass beads. With effective training, they learn a skill and can sell these products to increase their income, explained Huang. “In a country like Tanzania, where basic social security is relatively low, I was very surprised to see an organization such as Shanga Shangaa. People with disabilities here can profit from the skills they acquire. It’s a real joy for them,” Huang said, adding that he also manages a public interest project in China and that there is much to learn from the structure of this Tanzanian organization.
“Africa is much more than beautiful landscapes and wildlife. What sets her apart is her brilliant culture. This is why Bobuafrica encourages responsible travel and hopes that more Chinese can act as cultural ambassadors by communicating in depth with local Africans. This helps us get to know Africa better and vice versa,” said Shi. Thus, with the help of Bobuafrica, Chinese tourists may consider organizing their wedding ceremony in Sub-Saharan African countries, going on a study tour, visiting local families or volunteering.
An original product
Shi has set for herself another important goal: to introduce and sell African specialty products via Bobuafrica. “Whenever I show my friends typical African objects like Maasai necklaces, they ask me what are the meaning behind these objects. It gave me the idea that transcultural trade might be a good way to promote African culture among Chinese consumers,” she explained. Today, Bobuafrica users can buy African products as varied as the famous South African rooibos, Kenyan soapstone sculptures, Maasai bracelets, Rwandan handicraft necklaces and so on.
“By practicing a kind of fair trade, I also wish to contribute to the development of African crafts and create jobs,” she said. Amongst the sales partners of Bobuafrica are many organizations whose mission is to take advantage of traditional practices to help local women improve their financial independence. Basecamp Maasai Brand (BMB) is one of them. Jemimah Sairowua, BMB Project Manager, values her partnership with Bobuafrica, saying: “Bobuafrica helps our Maasai women sell their creations, thus earning them an income which the ladies use to buy food, clothing and build modern housing. I am very grateful to them for having established such a commercial and cultural platform.”
As for the future, Shi hopes to take root on African soil, like the baobabs that overcome drought and solitude, to finally realize her African dream. C
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