Heeding her mother's words

Bonds of wisdom

Searching for Chinese roots in Africa

In addition to her living costs, Gomes, who failed to get a government scholarship, for which there is fierce competition, has to pay 9,000 yuan in tuition fees each academic year.

At Jinan University, there are about 3,800 foreign students from 92 countries. Among them, 73 are from Africa and three are from Angola. Scores of Angolans are studying in other Chinese cities, too.

Gomes says she feels at home in China. She uses WeChat, a Chinese messaging app, to communicate with teachers and classmates, and she has a Cantonese friend named Zhang Xin.

"I teach her Portuguese and she teaches me Chinese," she says, in a Cantonese accent.

In her spare time, she reads books, surfs on the Internet, chats with friends and goes shopping like many Chinese youngsters.

She usually has her hair and nails done in a community in an area that is home to many Africans living in Guangzhou.

African shops, beauty salons and restaurants are packed in rows around Xiaobei Road, Yuexiu district, and Africans, some in traditional attire and some in T-shirts and jeans, are seen everywhere in the neighborhood.

Up to 80 percent of the residents are from Africa, says Chen Xiaobing, a local resident.

According to unofficial estimates, about 50,000 Africans live temporarily or permanently at any given time in Guangzhou.

Despite being homesick sometimes, Gomes says she has gotten used to living in China. In Guangzhou, summer is hot and it rains a lot. The climate similar to Angola's, she says.

Xinhua