A Feel of Kunming In Africa

By ZUO ZUOFEI

The author is a Chinese teacher at the Confucius Institute in Eritrea and a writer

Life in Eritrea’s capital Asmara reminds Chinese teacher of China’s “spring” city

I like to draw parallels between the life in foreign cities where I have lived and Chinese cities, which makes it easier for me to remember them, and for my Chinese readers to get the sense of how they are like. When I was working in Georgia, I felt that its capital Tbilisi had a touch of Chongqing, a mountainous city in southwest China. Now after several years in Eritrea, the capital Asmara, with spring-like weather around the year,gives the feeling of living in Kunming.

Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province in southwest China, is known as a city of spring. I visited the city once in October 2018, when I took my African students there for the Chinese Bridge competition. I later described it in a poem as a city of mountains, waters and flowers,with views of the spring at every corner. Asmara, like Kunming, is located at an elevation of about 2,300 metres above sea level. The common feature of the climate in both cities is that despite fluctuations, the temperature often stays around 20 degrees Celsius through the day,which is very comfortable.

A courtyard in Asmara, Eritrea, after rain (ZUO ZUOFEI)

I departed for Asmara in February 2018, when it was still bitterly cold in China. I threw my old down jacket in the trash bin as soon as I got into the airport in Shanghai, because I was confident that I would never need to wear it again. But when I got to Asmara, I felt slightly chilly in the mornings, which I believe was due to the high altitude. Then I got used to it,and a T-shirt and a coat were sometimes enough to get through the year. As the climate is pleasant all year round, many of the other Chinese people I spoke to said they would like to retire here. I think it is a good idea. Though supplies are not abundant here, the elderly do not need many things.

Another important reason why I call Asmara Africa’s Kunming is because it is also a veritable city of flowers. Although there is a shortage of water, almost every household has flowers. Most of their courtyards are walled with flowers - climbing vines planted at the roots of the walls, which are then pruned each year to form walls and arches. When the flowers are in full bloom, it looks like the walls are wearing a flower crown. The mixture of red and pink looks beautiful even from afar.

It reminds me of the flower garlands worn by girls waltzing through Kunming’s Dounan flower market, the largest flower market in Asia and one of the most famous attractions in Kunming.When we were there for the Chinese Bridge competition, contestants from 99 countries were taken to the market despite the tight schedule, which shows the importance of flowers for Kunming.There is a unique flower that is found in both cities - jacaranda. I first learned about jacaranda from an article about South Africa, and I didn’t expect to find it in Eritrea, right at the entrance of Asmara University where I work. At first, I didn’t recognise the giant tree and didn’t pay much attention to it. It wasn’t until the flowers bloomed in April, forming a purple cloud looking like a fairy garden from afar, that I realised it was the uniquely coloured, noble jacaranda.

Kunming, coincidentally, has a popular street, known as the most beautiful street in the city, owing its beauty to the jacarandas planted on both sides of the street.

I later found out that jacarandas are deciduous trees native to Brazil, and were only introduced to Kunming in 1984. The jacarandas at Asmara University are at least 200 years old. It is a miracle that they have grown so big in the city. Sadly, when I returned after the Spring break in 2019, I found the trees were cut down to their roots for reasons unknown to me. I was filled with melancholy - they carried so many precious memories for people who lived there. CA