Chinese locals who have ‘not been exposed to black people before’ were caught on camera brazenly filming and photographing a Botswanan student.
Mandla Nkiwane flew to mainland China after enrolling in an undergraduate pharmacy course at Weifang University.
Mandla had never travelled alone before, but nobody expected what he’d have to deal with when he arrived.
Have a look at the video below:
After living in Birmingham for eight years, the 19-year-old flew to Beijing, planning to board a train to Weifang on September 18.
It was when the student was waiting with all his luggage that a group of locals appeared – and began taking pictures of him out of the blue.
Mandla returned the favour, whipping his phone out to capture the absolutely surreal cultural moment.
Speaking about the incident, Mandla said:
Because no one had managed to come pick me up I had to make my own way from Beijing to Weifang alone and as a first-time traveller I just took it as a challenge and I managed to go to the train station and booked a ticket for 22:00.
I had all my luggage with me, I was standing in front of the McDonald’s after eating and reading the display board at the front and just waiting for my train to be called up.
Then, a few people came and took some pictures of me and some sneaked pictures so I decided to take my phone out in case someone came.
As the locals appeared, a smiling man approached Mandla and began recording him from his mobile phone while staring at him in awe – he even asked for a selfie with him.
While the student was shocked at first, he soon realised their behaviour came from a place of ‘genuine intrigue’ rather than malice.
Mandla added:
My initial reaction was very shocked but I went along because he seemed nice even though I was tired of people taking pictures.
I understand that it’s not coming from a place of malicious intent but a place of genuine intrigue and awe.
Some people were touching and hugging and I realised it’s because they maybe have not seen a black person before so I did not want to react in a hostile way in case that was the first time they have interacted with a black person.
It’s quite the introduction, but it was not to be the last time Mandla would experience strange behaviour from the locals.
Another day, the 19-year-old was walking with his university friend when a woman approached her and touched her braids.
As the woman was speaking Mandarin, the students couldn’t understand what she was saying – so, they politely brushed her off.
Looking back on the weird moments, Mandla said:
This is definitely the first time it happened but I doubt it’ll be the last as I will be in China for a few years.
My final thoughts about the situation is that I have to get used to it because they don’t mean harm, they just have not been exposed to black people before.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.