CRI听力:Projestus Kagashani--Footballs Universal Language

In the last piece of our series on expats living in China, we'll take a look at the story of Projestus Kagashani, who has spent decades building a life in China.

But the football-mad father-of-two's time in the capital is coming to an end. Jonathan Alpart has story.

Projestus Kagashani arrived in Beijing over 20 years ago. Originally from Tanzania, Beijing was a huge shock to him at first.

"I came to China as a student in 1994. I was a scholarship student. When I first arrived in Beijing one thing that I met was a cultural shock, which I expected it but it was more than I expected."

A keen family man, and computer engineer, you would never guess that Kagashani is crazy about football.

The beautiful game takes up almost all of his spare time, and his passion centres around one team – a team which he founded, called Africa United.

The team was set up as a way of meeting other African expats in Beijing, but that's not to say it's taken lightly – Africa United are expected to finish the season as champions. And if you don't play well you don't play at all.

But despite its competitive nature, playing for the team still has it's social advantages.

"I've made a lot of friends. I've met people. Even I can say the job I have, my current job is because of football because my boss also plays in the same league but with a different team."

Kagashani wants the best players to play for Africa United, but this means young players have to feature – and one of the problems with this is they often can't afford to pay the match fee, meaning Kagashani has to find a way to help them financially.

But it's also the language that's an issue. With players from all over Africa, the majority of the footballers don't speak the same mother tongue and stuggle to get by in Chinese. Kagashani says that from this perspective, it's not an issue.

"But football is another language. As long as you play with them, you see them play the game. It's not a big problem."

His love for the game, and father-like presence off the pitch, has given him a lot of respect from the younger players.

"We see him as our uncle, as our dad. As well as our mentor." "Kagashani is a good good man."

Off the pitch, Kagashani has enjoyed his time in Beijing, building a life he never would have imagined when he arrived two decades ago.

"Myself, I'm a father of two kids. I have a girl and a boy. My wife and me have been living a happy life in Beijing."

But this chapter could soon come to a close. The pull of his own culture means the final whistle is about to be blown on his time in Beijing.

"My roots is in Tanzania, So I have to go back to my roots. No matter what, I have to go back."

For CRI, I'm Jonathan Alpart.