On September 20, 2023, Consul General in Johannesburg Tang Zhongdong was invited to the opening ceremony of Xu Hongfei's "Journey to Africa: Xu Hongfei SculptureExhibition World Tour - Johannesburg". Consul General Tang Zhongdong delivered a speech at the ceremony and opened the exhibition together with South African guests, South African art communityrepresentatives and the representatives from the organizers.

In his speech, Consul General Tang recalled the history of China-Africa cultural exchanges and emphasized the importance of President Xi Jinping's visit to South Africa and the BRICS Summit this year in promoting cultural exchanges between China and South Africa and Africa at large. He hoped that Chinese artists would bring more artworks to Africa and promote China-Africa and China-South Africa cultural exchangesand cooperation.

It is reported that the sculpture exhibition will last for three days, with a total of 9 works from the "Fat Ladies" series on display. The exhibition will also be held in Cape Town and Durban.