"When I was young, I told my mother that I would go to China to learn kung fu one day. She didn't believe it at the time. As soon as I got there, I called her and said, 'Mom, guess where I am. I'm at the Shaolin Temple!'," says Max Yollando, a young man from Cote d' Ivoire, a country in West Africa, sharing his deep love for Chinese culture.
When Yollando was a university student, he went to the Confucius Institute(孔子学院) in his country to study Chinese. In late 2016, he had the chance to visit the temple in Henan Province on a three-month exchange. This experience brought him closer to traditional Chinese culture.
After returning to Cote d' Ivoire, Yollando continued to practice Chinese and study traditional Chinese culture. In July 2017, he returned to the Shaolin Temple again and stayed there for six years. His years at the temple reading, practicing kung fu, and meditation(打坐) greatly changed him, and allowed him to better understand traditional Chinese culture.
At the end of 2022, when he completed his studies at the temple, he began working at a Shaolin cultural center in Zambia. The first of its kind in Africa, the center is home to 30 orphans(孤儿), who are taught Chinese language and traditional Chinese culture, including kung fu, as part of the course.
For Yollando, the purpose of studying Chinese culture is to introduce Chinese values to people in his country. "In China, people make an effort to work better, and they are very respectful and thankful to their family and country. That's what I love the most about the culture. When I make connections between Chinese and African culture, it seems to me that they have a lot in common," he says.
a. Yollando studied Chinese at the Confucius Institue.
b. Yollando stayed at the Shaolin Temple for six years.
c. Yollando worked at a Shaolin cultural center in Zambia.
d. Yollando went on a three-month exchange to the Shaolin Temple.
