The Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of Tanzania shared an ostensibly similar political objective in the 1960s: the pursuit of socialist development. As part of its drive to promote internationalist solidarity, Beijing despatched a range of experts to Tanzania and elsewhere in Africa to undertake development projects. Their encounters with members of the recipient communities were shaped by cultural mores and expectations at the interpersonal level and proved to be points of engagement as well as contention. This study uses a historical lens to elucidate the role of the Chinese experts as agents of knowledge dissemination in Tanzania and focuses on the soft side of south-south cooperation. Based on historical data from the 1960s and 1970s, this contributions conclusions emphasise the primary role of culture in shaping understandings of development, as well as the critical importance that cross-cultural issues have on the transmission and appreciation of knowledge at the most basic interpersonal level.
