By Luo Haizhou

The general theme of the joint African Pavilion is "The Great Ballad of Africa," whose goal is to represent the ethnical diversity, solidarity and future of the African countries. The joint African pavilion consists of exhibitions provided by 28 African countries including Angola, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Zambia, Sudan, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Rwanda, and exhibits are displayed, from north to south, according to the geographical location of the host countries.
Visitors could easily cross national boundaries in the pavilion, and they can view virtually the entire African continent as if taking a real tour of the countries concerned, with various impressions of Africa such as bamboo structures emitting white smokes, wooden sculptures, stone sculptures, original hide drums, handbags made out of the lids of cola drinks, and beer-tin houses, jumping out at them. Various pictures of ethnical African garments are displayed, from top to bottom, on the exterior walls of the African Pavilion, with the seemingly random arrangement being actually in tune with aesthetic principles, and the pictures of various races of people in different colors of garments being rich in their embodiments.
One of the key exhibits is the long history of the human beings in Africa. Here we can find the earliest interface between Homo sapiens and nature.

 
Replicas of the skulls of the oldest Homo sapiens, the Hero people, are displayed at the Symbol Zone situated at the center of the joint pavilion. Discovered in Ethiopia in 1997, experts consider these remains to be of primitive modern humans from about 160,000 years ago.
Furthermore, 'Lucy,' a 3.5 million year-old fossil of a female hominid displayed in the exhibition room of Ethiopia, also attracts a lot of attention. It was discovered in 1974.
Neighboring Kenya is also exhibiting various specimens, etc. of manlike apes and the human species that show the evolution of humankind, which date back to 25 million years ago.
Stepping into the tents for nomadic people living in the desert, which are exhibited in the booth of Mauritania, visitors will discover many exhibits indicative of various living wisdoms, such as natural refrigerators made out of animal bodies.
The Sudan exhibition room uses many lovely mock-up containing miniatures of people and cute animals to depict views in a street, and visitors can envisage how interesting the lifestyle of this country might be.
We could also learn the most primitive status of life and customs among indigenous peoples of the African continent via many interesting exhibits such as the models of thatch houses, masks, musical instrument, and kitchen utensils displayed by countries such as Zambia.
Africa is also known as the Animal Kingdom, and it should be enjoyable to see the exhibits of the countries of Africa, with its diverse range of climates, tropical rainforests savannas and deserts. Each country is utilizing specimens, models, video footage, etc to exhibit and introduce the nature, animals and plants of their countries, with many of the exhibits being quite rare. Another distinct impression is the strong affinity between human beings and animals presented by the joint African pavilion, and the animals are represented through every possible material such as metal, wood, paper, earthenware, stone, cloth and hemp. And the images of elephants, lions, leopards, giraffes, zebras, butterflies could also be easily found in the pavilion.
Asides from exhibits of the long history of human beings and the strong affinity between human kind and nature, there are nothing better than the various small commodities on show that could bridge the distance between us and the Africa. The bottles of perfumes unique to Africa are even more diversified than the types of perfume smells, and the African letters on T-shirts also look quite modern. The ceramic kitchen ware is also impressive, featuring thick colors and solid stripes. From the vivid depiction of the details of insects, to the various handles in imitation of the giraffe necks, the themes of animals are augmented once again in various small commodities, reflecting the special aesthetic values of the African people, and their astute commercial sense. The fortune cats in particular are most popular among visitors.
Africa is not only one of the sources of human civilizations, but also a cradle of human race. The attraction of the joint African pavilion lies in the grandeur landscapes in the continent, and the one-stop visit to the diversified cultures and lifestyles in the multifaceted environment. Let us join the African people to the joyful journey in exploring the nature.