China News Service, Cairo, October 1. Title: Reporter’s Notes: From the venue to the streets, experience the exchanges and mutual learning between China and Arab civilizations in Cairo
China News Service reporter Ma Xiuxiu
The "World Dialogue on China Studies·Arab Countries Special" event was recently held in Cairo, Egypt. After a few days of interviews, I heard a lot of views on China-Arab exchanges, and met many people. I gradually realized that exchanges between China and Arab states not only take place in the venue, but are also hidden in the streets, restaurants and daily interactions between people.
At the venue, "enhancing understanding" is an inescapable topic in exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations, and language is undoubtedly an important key.
Hassanin Fahmi Hussein, an Egyptian sinologist and director of the Chinese Department of Ain Shams University, told reporters that in recent years, with the increasing exchanges between Arab countries and China in humanities and other fields, more and more Arab young people have begun to learn about China through different channels. There are also more and more students learning Chinese. While learning the language, they have further contact with and understanding of Chinese culture.
At the screening event for the feature film "Across Mountains and Seas - Visitors from Other Lands", Arab friends from Egypt, Yemen and Syria in China shared their experiences from learning Chinese to living and working in China to participating in Sino-Arab friendly exchanges. There were also many young Arabs studying Sinology and Chinese students studying Arabic at the scene. Everyone chatted, took photos, exchanged contact information, and a lot of communication happened naturally.
Walking out of the venue, this feeling became real and concrete.
On the day I arrived in Cairo, I hailed a Chinese brand car through a ride-hailing app, and started chatting with the driver.
"In the past, people preferred Japanese cars and Korean cars, but now it's different." He said that in his opinion, buying a Chinese car is a "great deal" - the price is right and the configuration is good. While chatting, another Chinese brand car just passed by the window.
This driver has never been to China, but "China" is not unfamiliar to him. He knows that many Chinese companies have come to Egypt and often sees news about China from local media. In his impression, China is a "big country" with a long history and orderly social organization.
This is just the personal impression of an ordinary Egyptian, but I find it very interesting: for a person who has never been to China, his understanding of China is spliced together by news, commodities, and the changes happening around him.
In recent days, there have been many similar details.
Once at an event venue, I accidentally walked into a group of Jordanians. They enthusiastically invited me to take a photo and invited me to have the opportunity to go to Jordan. When walking on the streets of Cairo, some children took the initiative to wave and say hello. When I went to the event venue in advance to check out the venue, the hotel staff even asked me in Chinese if I needed help.
What surprised me even more was that Remon Fawzy, an Egyptian who had never been to China, spoke Chinese very fluently. He said he was lucky because learning Chinese brought him many opportunities. He has always hoped to visit China one day and would even ask friends to help him purchase Chinese goods.
Here, Chinese is no longer just a major in the classroom, but is actually connected with some people’s work and life.
One time when I was having a meal, I came to a Chinese restaurant. As the National Day approaches, boss Ma Yongguang and several Egyptian employees are preparing to hang the national flag at the door. While gesticulating, he tells the employees how to hang it in a standard way.
Ma Yongguang told reporters that he has been in Egypt for more than two years and has not systematically learned Arabic; several Egyptian employees have also not systematically learned Chinese. But as we work together every day, we have gradually learned some expressions in each other's languages, and we have become more and more familiar with each other's living habits and culture as we get along.
This is probably the simplest form of "mutual learning among civilizations" that I have experienced during this trip. There is no grand narrative, communication and understanding happen in day-to-day interactions.
An observation made by Bao Chengzhang, associate researcher at the Institute of Middle East Studies at Shanghai International Studies University, also impressed me deeply. He said that when he came to Egypt three years ago, advertisements for a Chinese taxi-hailing platform could be seen everywhere on the viaducts, but this time he could not see them again. In his view, this may mean that some new things that needed vigorous publicity in the past are gradually being integrated into the local market and people's daily lives.
Before coming to Egypt, I was a little worried about the unfamiliar environment. But when we got here, many expectations didn't happen. More often, what I encountered was warm greetings, patient help, and conversations that started naturally because of the question "Chinese?"
Over the past few days, I feel more and more that the exchanges between countries and civilizations will ultimately fall on specific people. And understanding is slowly accumulated through arrivals, meetings, and exchanges. (over)
