First Shaolin Temple opens in Zambia

LUSAKA－The first-ever Shaolin Temple in Zambia held a ceremony to mark Spring Festival.

The ceremony, held last month on the outskirts of Lusaka, the country's capital, and attended by the Chinese community in Zambia and some local people, included a display of Chinese kung fu by local students and their masters.

The audience was later taken on a tour of the facilities before taking part in a Buddhism ceremony. Fireworks, the burning of incense and the ringing of the bell marked the event.

The temple opened its doors to the public and started conducting its training last month, with an initial batch of 15 local students.

Apart from teaching them Chinese kung fu, the students are also being taught the Chinese language and culture which includes the preparation of Chinese dishes.

Victoria Nakazwe is a 22-year-old student who has decided to start learning Chinese martial arts at the temple and is so far happy with what she is learning.

Nakazwe, who has always dreamed of learning kung fu after watching Chinese martial arts movies, says she intends to use the knowledge acquired to open her own school and impart the knowledge to others.

"I have always liked kung fu since my childhood. Whenever I watched the movies and watched the Chinese actors, I always wanted to be like them," she says.

She has since encouraged other young people, especially girls, to consider learning kung fu, as it will not only help them with self-defense, but also to be disciplined as well.

She adds that she is enjoying the teachings on how to prepare Chinese food.

Justina Banda, 22, says she decided to join the training because she has always loved Chinese kung fu.

Banda, who has been undertaking Chinese training for the past year, says she decided to join the temple because she wanted to perfect her skills and become a trainer for her colleagues in the future.

Construction work on the temple started in April 2019 and was completed in July. Four monks from the Shaolin Temple in China are in Zambia to conduct the lessons.

Yan Lun, the headmaster of the temple, says the objectives of the project include teaching Shaolin kung fu, Chinese culture, helping understand the African culture as well as enhancing the China-Africa friendship.

Xinhua