Launched on December 30, 2017 at the Dar es Salaam Train Station, the starting point of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, the documentary presents testimonies of more than 40 people who took part in the construction of the railway.

"The construction of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway was the first time so many Chinese set foot in Africa. Overall, more than 50,000 Chinese engineers and technicians were dispatched to the continent at the time," said Zhang.

Open to traffic in July 1976 after six years of work, the railway starts in the Tanzanian capital of Dar es Salaam and crosses all of south Tanzania up to Kapiri Mposhi, a distance of 1,860 km.

"The documentary TAZARA: A Journey Without An End aims to reflect how the railway contributed to local development, as well as the problems that one finds there in an objective way. We hope to put forward solutions rather than partial criticisms," Zhang told ChinAfrica. The documentary, which was coproduced by The Travel Channel, also seeks to highlight the region's beautiful landscapes, with an aim of promoting tourism development along the railway. The first three episodes will be aired for the first time on television in early September, to coincide with the opening of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Big project, small screen 

At the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit in December, 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced to launch 10 major China-Africa cooperation plans for the following three years.

One of these projects deals with people-to-people exchanges, stating that China would build five cultural centers for Africa, facilitate access to satellite TV in 10,000 African villages and provide 30,000 scholarships to African students wishing to study in China. In addition, China made a commitment to sponsoring visits by 200 African scholars and study trips by 500 young Africans to China every year, as well as training 1,000 media workers annually. In order to improve connectivity and tourism cooperation, the project also plans to help open more direct flights between China and Africa. These promises were not empty words. Chinese digital TV broadcasting company StarTimes was quick to set in motion the project to help 10,000 African villages access to satellite TV. After more than two years of preparation, the project was launched in a number of African countries in 2018 and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

"It's a project that benefits African rural residents. It will not only enrich their cultural life, but also deepens China-Africa cultural exchanges," said StarTimes President Pang Xinxing.

On May 13, the project was launched in Mozambique, providing satellite television to more than 500 villages. A month later, on June 7, the project expanded to Kenya, where more than 16,000 households in 800 villages benefited from free satellite television services.

According to Joe Mucheru, Kenyan Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology, the implementation of the project actually helped Kenyans, especially those in rural areas, "gain a window to the outside world."

Like Abdi, Zhang and StarTimes, thousands of Africans and Chinese contribute to Sino-African exchanges. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, more than 300 activities and cooperation projects have been implemented in the field of people-to-people exchanges.

(Comments to lijing@chinafrica.cn)