Zigege, mang’ina on sale in China

Malawian students at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing, China, participated in the university’s 20th Youth Cultural Festival last Thursday.

Over 100 nationalities, including Malawian students, mounted booths to display products from their home countries.

The event lasted for a few hours, but Malawian students left a long-lasting impression as their booth was a haven of entertainment. Traditional dances, songs and food made Malawi the centre of attraction.

Among the food-stuffs on sale at the Malawi booth were zigege made using boiled potatoes coated with food colouring, mandasi (fritters) and mang’ina which, interestingly, were on high demand. In fact, the students were overwhelmed with the response.

Within two hours or so, all the food was sold out despite the high prices. Zigege sold at 3 RMB (about K900), mandasi 10 RMB (K3 000) and Mang’ina 20 RMB (K6 000).

Malawian students from other universities, who joined the fanfare at UIBE, were treated to a communal dish at the booth; nsima, beef, chicken and vegetables. Some of the products on display such as Nali chilli sauce, Malawi Gin, tea and traditional gear were supplied by the Malawi embassy in Beijing.

Malawi’s Ambassador to China Allan Chintedza, who attended the event, said he was impressed with the students’ efforts to promote the country to the world.

“They have been good ambassadors of our country. The level of organisation is impressive and I guess all other students in other universities need to emulate this gesture. We must all work to promote who we are,” he said.

Malawi’s neighbouring booth was mounted by students from Equatorial Guinea which was home to unstoppable traditional dances. Zimbabwe was another attractive booth for its sweet beer, commonly known as Umukomboti. Argentina, too, was marvellous; their booth had an imposing picture of that country’s football star Lionel Messi.

“Messi is a significant part of our culture,” said one of the students at the booth.

Besides the displays, a few countries staged performances. Two Malawian students Phillimon Kalambule and Edith Gamaliel participated in a dance of five continents. UIBE is home to eight Malawian students. The university has a population of about 17 000 from 160 countries