Recently, the 2026 Zimbabwe Asian Culture Festival was held in Harare. Themed "Connecting Asia and Zimbabwe," the festival was jointly organized by the embassies of seven countries—China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, and the Republic of Korea. The 23rd Chinese (Hunan) medical team to Zimbabwe participated fully in the themed activities, leveraging the opportunity of China-Africa cultural exchange to bring traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), tea culture, calligraphy, and Chinese film and television culture to the people of Zimbabwe.

At the event, the medical team takes a group photo with local residents, diplomatic officials from various countries, and Chinese nationals in Zimbabwe.

On the first day of the festival (July 31), the main venue was set at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, where characteristic cultural exhibition zones from various countries opened simultaneously. The medical team set up a traditional Chinese culture exhibition booth, closely following the mainstream of China-Africa cultural exchange with interactive displays. The medical workers popularized distinctive TCM therapies such as acupuncture and tuina massage, and explained the ideas of TCM wellness. They performed a complete Chinese tea ceremony to convey Eastern tea culture, and spread out xuan paper, a traditional Chinese paper for calligraphy and painting, to demonstrate calligraphy with a brush on site, inviting guests from various countries to try their hand at Chinese calligraphy. Local residents, diplomatic officials from various countries, and Chinese nationals in Zimbabwe all stopped to experience the activities, gaining an up-close feel for the unique charm of traditional Chinese culture, a vivid demonstration of the dialogue between Chinese and African civilizations.

A local resident tries his hand at Chinese calligraphy.

On August 1, the second day of the festival, also the Film Screening Day, was held at the Westgate Cinema in Harare, where several outstanding Asian films were screened. The inspirational film "One and Only" was shown as China's representative film. The story of young people pursuing their dreams and striving hard in the film resonated widely with audience members from various countries. At the screening site, medical team members continued to offer interactive experiences in TCM, tea culture, and calligraphy. They combined their firsthand medical experience in Zimbabwe with in-depth exchanges with Zimbabwean residents and diplomats from various countries to tell the story of China's development.

Traditional Chinese decorative knots are very popular among local residents.

This year marks the ‌China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges, with promoting mutual learning among civilizations and enhancing people-to-people friendship as key themes. Grounded in its core duty of providing medical aid, the team deeply integrated medical assistance with China-Africa cultural diplomacy through the two-day activities at the Asian Culture Festival, using TCM, traditional skills, and Chinese film as diverse carriers to build bridges for people-to-people communication between China and Africa. Team members made clear that they will continue to leverage various international cultural exchange platforms to enrich the forms of China-Africa cultural interaction, steadily strengthening the people-to-people foundation of China-Zimbabwe friendship, and contributing the strength of Hunan medical professionals to exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and African civilizations.

All the photos were provided by correspondents.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: Changsha Evening News