CARTWHEELS ACROSS THE DECADES

Emotional reunion as Sudanese acrobats meet Chinese instructors from Wuhan after 46 years, Zhang Xingjian reports

More than four decades ago, a group of Sudanese acrobats were sent to the Wuhan Acrobatic Troupe and underwent three years of professional acrobatic training from 1971 to 1974, as part of the Agreement on Sino-Sudanese Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation signed by the Chinese and Sudanese governments in August 1970.

Four decades later, nine of the Sudanese acrobats have returned to China and once again met their beloved instructors in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, between Nov 18 and 20.