Fourteen-year-old girl Edwin chose to continue her study in China shortly after she returned to her home in Kenya at the end of her first year at an acrobatics school in north China's Hebei Province.

"There's still so much for me to learn and one year is definitely not enough," she said in fluent Chinese in an interview with Xinhua.

The girl has learned to speak Chinese while studying at the Wuqiao Acrobatics School in Wuqiao County, in southeastern Hebei Province, some 170 kilometers from the provincial capital Shijiazhuang.

The county with just 252,000 people would be otherwise unknown if not for its worldwide fame as the home of the traditional Chinese art. Out of a deep-rooted love for acrobatics, avid amateurs in the county have formed into 58 troupes to entertain themselves and from time to time, give performances to a nationwide audience on TV.

"I know many award-winning acrobats were born in Wuqiao, and I hope I can become one of them myself," Edwin said.

She is not alone at the school, which has presently 12 foreign students on campus -- all from African countries and aged between 12 and 18.

"It's very tough to learn acrobatics but I'm happy and content here," said Danil Atta Larety from Ghana. "Actually, we Ghanaians all love acrobatics."

Most students have picked up enough Chinese phrases to strike up conversations, as the school also teaches oral and written Chinese to help them learn more about the cultural background behind the centuries-old artistic form, according to vice principal Qi Zhiyi of the school.

Established in 1985, Wuqiao Acrobatics School was authorized by the Ministry of Culture to recruit foreign students in 1999 and has since trained more than 20 acrobats from the United States, Tanzania, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

"We're proud to be a window for foreigners to learn more about China," said the school's principal Li Huayang. "We hope more foreign students will help carry forward the traditional artistic form and promote cultural exchanges."

China has a 3,000-year history of acrobatics with many performers receiving international acclaim. It has presently 80 influential acrobatic troops with over 10,000 professional performers.
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2004)