Take one look at Lloyd Randall and I, and you see a contrast: he towers over me in height and we have different skin colors. But that's not where the differences end. He, who hails from Sierra Leone, Western Africa, has spent 15 years (and still counting), on and off, in China — five times more than my three years here thus far – I come from Malaysia.

Even not taking into account the fact that this period made up for almost half of Lloyd's life, a decade and a half is still a long time.

And yet, putting all these aside, speaking to him in a 20-plus-minute interview, I found that we share many similar sentiments as foreigners working in the media industry in China. And if there's one thing I learned from him from our conversation is that we humans are all the same and no one's journey should be deemed more special, admirable, enviable, than the other. I can relate to his humility.

"When I first got here [in 2005], I couldn't speak a word of Chinese. I'd say we were the harbingers, the first wave of Africans and Black people to come to China in large numbers," he told me.

"It was difficult at first. I even contemplated going back home because it was a different culture, different language. I pretty much came to China as an adolescent and I became a man in China. Technically, I grew up in China," he said.

And matured he did. Lloyd said he came to China at impeccably the right time, "just when the sleeping giant was being awoken."

"I thought my timing was perfect. It was just before the Olympics games, things were booming, there were more foreigners coming here. So from that perspective, I kind of made a strategically geopolitical move, because I also knew China and Africa will build this relationship economically, culturally," he said.

"So I felt if I learned Chinese, I understood the culture, I'll be at a vantage point — to be able to use that to bring cultures together and see how I can contribute to this China-Africa frontier."

But because he came to China at this nascent stage, where – on one hand – China was burgeoning, yet there were still not many Black people then, Lloyd was caught in between both the good and not-so-good.

"I would put it this way: people just didn't understand our culture. Being a Black man and an African in China, sometimes the job would prefer a white person over me… that was very difficult," he said.

"But my mentality is: I always had very good Chinese friends. Say, on the subway and maybe there was someone who didn't want to sit next to me, but I remember I have four to five Chinese friends where if I have a problem, I will call them and they will be right there to give me a helping hand," he shared.

"So I always try to balance things with equilibrium; for every negative experience I think about the good things I have."

Lloyd made a reference to his father, who has passed away, but whose words live in him.

"My dad used to always tell me: 'Remember why you were there, keep your focus, stay the course, and everything would work out.' I always look at things from a brighter perspective, the good and the bad, and the way I see it — the positives outweigh the negatives.”

On the flip side, Lloyd's time in China has brought him immense opportunities.

Since he joined StarTimes in 2016, a Beijing-based Chinese media company that broadcasts live on TV channels in Africa, he said he has been able to travel the world, and experienced things he never dreamed possible.

"To go to Russia [in 2018]. To me it was very special because of a documentary I did. Though it was about the FIFA World Cup, it was much more than that. I went to a special city called Stalingrad, now it's called Volgograd… I was born in a war-torn country so war's personal for me," he added.

His job also brought him to Germany, where he hosted a documentary on the 30th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and to the Basketball World Cup where he was at the court side for the final between Argentina and Spain. Both were held in 2019.

"Also… how many people in the world can say they were Mike Tyson's stunt double in a movie [titled] "China Salesman? I learned so much from that project. And how many can say they had a fight scene with Steven Seagal?"

Throughout the interview, as we expanded our conversation to the future of China-Africa ties, the word "understanding" kept coming up.

"I feel Africans have understood the way the West thinks, the way China thinks; and as Africans we have to choose which of these two work for us, and we can have a symbiotic relationship," he said.

In this regard, he said he would like to see infrastructure investments be more long-term in Africa.

"I'd [also] like to see if Chinese workers would go to Africa, instead of being in a cocoon where they're just with their other colleagues. They can kind of branch out a little bit, understand the culture they are in… [and] vice versa, we come to China to understand the Chinese culture," he said.

"This will then lead to less discrepancies, less arguments, less misunderstandings. I feel understanding is so underrated because once there is understanding, a lot of negativity just dissipates," he added.

"Culturally, we are more similar than we know. When it comes to the way we treat our families, I feel Chinese and Africans have a greater responsibility to their families.”

Lloyd first came to China in 2005 to study a Chinese course. After, he earned both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Beihang University.

He wants to continue to stay in China, though unsure for how much longer, as he's been here for so long.

"But even if at some point in time, which is normal, I do leave China, I do consider here as part of me, so I will always come back to China in one capacity or another, visiting or working or as a tourist, so a part of me is deeply ingrained in China," he said.

I share the above sentiment. We both also agree that no country, society, culture is perfect.

(This package was produced as a part of a China-Africa Youth Leadership Series, ahead of the China-Africa Forum 2020)