A true fan of chinese culture, The story of a renowned sudanese acrobat

Veteran Sudanese athlete Mudawi Omer Alibilal recounts his early days training in the mainland and his family's enduring love for 'this magic land'

"The first time I set foot in China in 1971, I had a hunch my life was doomed to be changed thanks to this magic land," says Mudawi Omer Alibilal, director of the Sudan National Acrobatic Troupe.

Born Jan 1, 1958 in Wau, a southern city of the Republic of the Sudan, the acrobat was sent to Central China's Wuhan city in October 1971 and became one in the first batch of trainees from Sudan to learn Chinese acrobatics.