From a distance, the Shaolin Temple outside Lusaka appears almost like a mirage, a slice of central China dropped into the Zambian landscape. Then the dragons emerge from beneath the pagoda, their brightly coloured fabric bodies hoisted on poles by teenagers moving with surprising precision. Nearby, smaller children tumble across a weather-beaten foam mattress, twisting into barrels and forward rolls as 30-year-old instructor Yan Chen barks commands. The sprawling complex houses Africa’s first...