On December 1^st, President XI Jinping, after leaving the French capital, where he had attended the 2015 climate summit, landed in Harare, marking the first Chinese state visit to Zimbabwe in twenty years. 2015 is also the 35^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the People’s Republic of China and Zimbabwe. On the evening of XI’s arrival, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe welcomed President XI and his wife with a banquet at the presidential palace. The University of Zimbabwe’s Confucius Institute had prepared a dynamic performance, wowing guests with a delightful rendering of “Shuochang lianpu” a popular song about the Chinese traditional art of opera masks. To the beat of powerful drums and accompanied by the spirited sounds of the Chinese Erhu, played by volunteer Chinese teacher LIAO Yafei, the Confucius Institute students offered a colorful sampling of Chinese performance art. The next day, President XI Jinping and his wife PENG Liyuan were welcomed by a group of overseas Chinese at the Harare International Conference Center, where President XI talked about the importance of “friendship, honesty, sincerity, and truth” in Sino-African relations, as well as the value of activities that foster interpersonal exchange between the people of Zimbabwe and China. XI further elaborated on the goals of the bilateral relationship and outlined some of the important results already achieved, encouraging his listeners to continue putting forth their best efforts to strengthen friendship and cooperation between the two countries. The University of Zimbabwe’s Confucius Institute was jointly established by Renmin University of China and the University of Zimbabwe and was Africa’s first Confucius Institute. Since its establishment in 2006, it has trained numerous successful students of Chinese and has twice won the global distinction of “Outstanding Confucius Institute.” The institute serves as an important platform of cultural exchange between Zimbabwe and the People’s Republic of China.