A singing and dancing show featuring African culture was put on stage in Beijing on Monday, part of the on-going Olympic cultural activities in the city.
Nearly 100 artists from South Africa, Tanzania, Mauritius, Rwanda, Senegal, Cameroun and Kenya performed the African Night show at the Great Hall of the People in the Tian'anmen Square, central Beijing.
The 90-minute performance featured the four themes of air, earth, love and friendship.
Dressed in traditional red costumes, Kenyan band "Kayamba Africa" sang an old Chinese folk song "My Chinese Heart" for quake survivors in southwest Sichuan Province.
The six-member band won thunderous applause from the audience when they finished their performance.
Juma Odemba, the band's music director, said they sympathized people in the quake-stricken region after reading media reports. They chose the song because they wanted to tell quake survivors that no matter what happened they should be strong and never give up hope.
He said Chinese are strong and they can always conquer difficulties to gain victories.
"We spent much time doing the rehearsal because we don't know a word of Chinese," he said. The band began the rehearsal as early as in January.
He said he was touched when Olympics volunteers helped him doing entry procedures at the airport.
"The strict security check at the airport and colorful banners carrying Olympic logos were very impressive. I believe Beijing is ready for the Games," he said.
Ten African kids who were studying in China performed acrobatics after being trained in Wuqiao County, Hebei Province, known as China's home of acrobatics.
The show will have one more performance Tuesday and the ticket prices range between 120 yuan (17.6 U.S. dollars) to 880 yuan.
(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2008)
