Reported by Xinyu Liao, Class of 2027
On March 31, 2025, DKU welcomed Dr. Yu Qiu for an insightful workshop and talk that explored the complexities of China-Africa encounters through an anthropological lens. The intimate gathering of approximately 15 participants provided an ideal setting for deep engagement with Dr. Qiu’s research on migration, ethics, and identity politics. As a social anthropologist from Zhejiang University, Dr. Qiu has extensive fieldwork experience across Nigeria, Tanzania, and China. She brought unique perspectives on how cultural interactions unfold in transnational spaces, challenging conventional understandings of cross-cultural encounters.
The workshop portion began with Dr. Qiu’s critical examination of how anthropologists conceptualize “encounters.” She argued that traditional frameworks often treat these interactions as static moments rather than dynamic processes shaped by power and mobility. Such a theoretical discussion came alive through her vivid ethnographic accounts of Nigerian migrants in Guangzhou, particularly their complex relationships with Chinese partners. These “semi-kinship” arrangements, existing outside formal legal recognition, revealed how intimacy and economics intertwine in migrant communities. A particularly powerful moment came when Dr. Qiu shared a late-night fieldwork encounter where a Nigerian community leader tested her ethical boundaries with a provocative hypothetical question about harassment. It led naturally into a discussion of feminist anthropology, where Dr. Qiu balanced the need to acknowledge structural inequalities with the importance of maintaining ethnographic openness to complex social realities.
Transitioning to her talk on Chinese Buddhism in Tanzania, Dr. Qiu presented fascinating findings about China mainland’s first Buddhist monastery in Africa. Unlike traditional missionary approaches, this “humanistic Buddhist” project emphasized social engagement over conversion, employing innovative strategies like labor-exchange volunteer programs and Mandarin classes. However, Dr. Qiu’s nuanced analysis revealed how these well-intentioned efforts sometimes reproduced colonial power dynamics, with Chinese donors viewing Tanzanian participants more as laborers than spiritual equals. The language barrier created by Mandarin instruction further complicated the monastery’s outreach, while local Tanzanians developed their own interpretations of Buddhism – some seeing it through the lens of colonial history, others as economic opportunity. These contradictions highlighted the complex interplay between religious transmission, cultural adaptation, and power relations in transnational spaces.
The Q&A session fostered lively exchanges about the practical and ethical dimensions of Dr. Qiu’s research. Participants pressed on important questions about maintaining researcher safety while building trust in marginalized communities, the evolving nature of religious practices as they cross cultures, and the role of language in facilitating or hindering genuine intercultural exchange. Dr. Qiu emphasized that no encounter happens in a vacuum – each interaction carries historical baggage and operates within existing power structures, even as individuals exercise agency in unexpected ways. These discussions revealed how Dr. Qiu’s work pushes beyond simplistic narratives of “soft power” to show the grassroots complexities of China’s global engagements.
In conclusion, the event offered profound insights into the messy realities of cross-cultural encounters that often get smoothed over in broader narratives about globalization. Dr. Qiu’s research demonstrates how religious, economic, and social motivations become deeply entangled in transnational spaces, requiring research approaches that are equally nuanced and adaptive. The workshop’s intimate format allowed for particularly meaningful engagement with these ideas, leaving participants with both a deeper understanding of China-Africa interactions and a renewed appreciation for the value of ethnographic methods. Ultimately, Dr. Qiu’s work reminds us that the most significant cultural exchanges often happen in everyday spaces where people negotiate identity and belonging – spaces that demand our careful attention and reflexive engagement as researchers and global citizens.
