African youths sit at a long table lining up bamboo strips and weaving them together tightly, row by row, until the hull of a small boat begins to take shape. They are attending a workshop where they learn the traditional Chinese craft of bamboo-weaving.

The workshop is one of many options available to representatives from 48 African countries attending the Seventh China-Africa Youth Festival that kicked off on April 18.

The attendees can choose to participate in workshops on traditional Chinese crafts and arts such as playing the guqin (a stringed instrument), learning Peking Opera or creating ceramic decorations.