Another passenger took the conversation outside Nairobi. "I am come western Kenya. For the past three years, a certain contractor has been building the main highway to Kisumu yet he has not completed it. The road is in bad shape, making us suffer each time one is travelling up country. I wish they had given the work the Chinese," said the man.

Such conversations have wiped out the negative perception Kenyans had of the Chinese. In Nairobi, they have become common especially during morning and peak hours when commuters on various roads spend endless hours in traffic jams as their counterparts on Thika superhighway cruise to work or home.

"The Chinese contractors are fantastic in their work. If it was a Kenyan company, it would still be doing the work or it would have long finished but we would now be negotiating through potholes," is a comment on the lips of many Nairobi commuters as they pass on road the Chinese are working on.

Thika superhighway is just one of the completed projects by the Chinese companies. These projects are acting as their ambassadors as they create a lasting image among Kenyans.

The Northern bypass is another work of the Chinese company. It stretches from Ruiru, through Ruai to Mombasa Road, and joins Old North Airport road, which is a key alternative artery to JKIA.

Ongoing road projects in the capital, according to Kenya Urban Roads Authority, are rehabilitation and dualing of Langata Road from Kenya Wildlife Service entrance to Bomas and Construction of City Cabanas interchange.

The Chinese are also working on the northern corridor road project, which connects Mombasa and Nairobi to Ethiopia and South Sudan.

The companies involved in the works include China Wu Yi, Synohydro Corporation, Shengli Engineering Construction Group and China Road & Bridges Corporation.

The fact that the Chinese build roads as Kenyans watch and use them has made their work stand out.

Unlike other contractors who close roads when they are constructing them, the Chinese allow motorists to use them as construction progresses. This has resonated well with Kenyans.

Dennis Mbuto, a public relations consultant noted that Chinese have turned around their image in Kenya.

"All the public knows about China in Kenya is good quality roads. The image that Kenyans held about fake mobile phones and cheap clothes is fast fading. The roads have become a huge selling point for the Chinese," said Mbuti.

Mbuti noted China has beaten Kenya's other partners who offer cash or engage in projects that do not directly touch on Kenyans' lives.

"Who does not use roads in Kenya? As long as the Chinese continue building quality roads, China's image in Kenya will outlive many generations. Their work has become the lens through which others are viewed," he noted.