Pao by Kerry Young

Spoilers abound! Simply put, Pao is political history of Jamaica told through the eyes and life of ‘Uncle’ Pao Yang of Kingston’s Chinatown. Don’t expect anything more or less when reading Pao, I say this because from reading the blurb it is easy to believe that the book focuses on Pao’s relationship with Gloria and…

Ruminations on African-Asian History

I like to picture this as a snowball. ‘This’ being my regularly increasing knowledge on the shared history between the African and the Asian continents. I admit that I thought the ‘wow’ moments ended with my posts on historical Sino-African relations. When we think about the African Diaspora, most of us turn our attention to…

Watching Korean Dramas in Yoruba

In the year plus since I returned to Nigeria and promptly lost the ‘returnee’ label, the Asian presence in the home I share with my mother and cousins has become really obvious. I came back as one of the rare Nigerian fans of Korean pop and sageuk, it was very lonely. But as time passed,…

In Conclusion, More on Zheng He

Zheng He’s 7th expedition was his last and after years of moving back and forth between the East African coast and China, all contact seized. Some people may look at this and say that the Chinese turned their backs on Africa but if you look at the situation within China in that time, it sheds…

Zheng He’s Star Fleet

In 1414 a Chinese fleet heralded by the Muslim Grand Eunuch of the Three Treasures, Zheng He (also known as Cheng Ho) sailed into the western Indian Ocean for the fourth time since his journey to the East began in 1405. In previously, that is between 1405 and 1414, Zheng He and his ships had…

Africans in Ancient China and Vice Versa

Last year while I was researching for my dissertation, I came across a footnote that mentioned that the first Africans who reached ancient China (the particular period was not specified) were two slaves given as gifts to the Emperor by an envoy of Arab traders. I found myself wondering what happened to them, were the…

African Women Want Chinese Husbands!

Such an eye-catching title isn’t it? To be more specific, it seems some Tanzanian women are actively searching for Chinese husbands! I really do not know whether to laugh or cry, nevertheless, I find this wholly interesting. So, the full stroy; I was searching Google for something or the other when I came across some…