Veteran Sudanese athlete Mudawi Omer Alibilal recounts his early days training in the mainland and his family's enduring love for 'this magic land'

"The first time I set foot in China in 1971, I had a hunch my life was doomed to be changed thanks to this magic land," says Mudawi Omer Alibilal, director of the Sudan National Acrobatic Troupe.

Born Jan 1, 1958 in Wau, a southern city of the Republic of the Sudan, the acrobat was sent to Central China's Wuhan city in October 1971 and became one in the first batch of trainees from Sudan to learn Chinese acrobatics.

"I still remember my first day in China, and it is a bittersweet memory for the 13-year-old boy then," says Alibilal. "Wuhan's winter is so cold and wet, and I was chilled to the bone. I often laid awake all night, looking at the ceiling, wondering why I was here and how I was about to live here for the next three years," he recalled, laughing.

In the 1970s, the Sudanese people had no idea about acrobatics, since they had never seen or heard of it before, and Mudawi Omer Alibilal was no exception.

Luckily for him, he met his "Chinese mother" - Yao Jinmei, an experienced acrobatics coach who worked at the Wuhan Acrobatic Troupe - and tried to learn the secrets of acrobatics and adapt to life in China as well.

"Yao Mama (Mother Yao) treats me like her own son, and I am grateful for what she has done for me. I was a stubborn and self-contemptuous boy then and lost my temper from time to time for doing a bad job in the daily exercises. But she always showed the utmost patience," Alibilal says. "Meanwhile, each time I felt exhausted after a tough day's training, I expected her to cook the traditional Wuhan food, hot dry noodles for me."

Under Yao's care and guidance, Alibilal has made strides in mastering acrobatics.

"At first, I thought courage determines all. If you dare to try something unbelievable, you can win the hearts of more people. However, I was totally wrong. Yao often told me to strike a balance between strength and skills in the training, and that's the essence of being a standard acrobat," he says.

That first year of hard work meant much to Alibilal, as he gradually mastered the fundamentals of acrobatics, which laid a solid foundation for future specialized training.