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by Mahmoud Fouly
CAIRO, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) – The Cairo Chinese Bridge Club hosted dozens of Egyptian students studying the Chinese language in a hall on a Nile cruise ship, where Chinese and Egyptians together celebrated the mid-autumn festival in China.
In the hall decorated with Chinese-style lanterns and red banners, a joyful ceremony was held on Tuesday, with various activities including group chanting, competitions and eating traditional Chinese moon cakes.
The ceremony began with a video played on a monitor showing a brief introduction to the history of the Mid-Autumn Festival and associated Chinese traditions, and how it is celebrated with a family reunion and moon cake in China. .
Being an ancient Chinese tradition, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, when the moon is fuller and brightest. It falls this year on September 21.
Gianna Xu, director of the newly opened Chinese Bridge Club in Cairo, said the event was organized “to help these students continue to better understand Chinese festivals, culture and language,” noting that the festival of the Mid-Autumn Festival is also referred to as “the moon cake festival”.
She added that the Chinese Bridge Club in Cairo has so far had around 2,500 members, including Chinese graduates of Egyptian universities, describing the club as “a bridge to connect China and Egypt.”
“We hope that we will be more connected in the future, strengthen the Sino-Egyptian friendship and boost the economic and cultural exchanges between China and Egypt,” the Chinese lady told Xinhua.
Smiles and laughter flooded the place when a general knowledge competition began, as the Chinese presenter asked questions of the Chinese and Egyptian students raising their hands to answer. Those who did it right received symbolic memorabilia from the Chinese language club.
“As a student, it is helpful to attend such Chinese events, participate in these competitions, get to know more Chinese, practice the language with them, and learn more about Chinese culture. , like today’s Mid-Autumn Festival celebration, â€Loay said. Adel, a junior Chinese language student at the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University.
“I also came to learn Chinese traditions, because understanding Chinese culture will help me in my studies and communication with Chinese people,†added the young man.
After the competitions, another video clip was displayed on the monitor to show a recipe for making a Chinese moon cake, and then the celebration ended with a Chinese song performed by a group of Egyptian students.
Aseel Ahmed, a senior Chinese language student at Ain Shams University’s Faculty of Languages, based in Cairo, said she chose to participate in organizing the event with the Chinese Bridge Club as it helps bring together Egyptian and Chinese cultures.
“I like languages ​​in general. But when I entered university, I liked to study Chinese due to the growing relations between Egypt and China, including economic and tourism relations, in addition to the similarity between Egyptian and Chinese cultures, â€he said. student told Xinhua.
Finally, the Chinese language club staff and their Egyptian guests took group photos together, holding a Chinese banner saying, “Learning Chinese is a bridge for Egyptian-Chinese communication, friendship.
Israa Abdel-Sayed, director of the Confucius Institute at Ain Shams University, expressed her admiration for the way the Chinese people revere their festivals, traditions and cultural heritage, urging young Egyptians to cherish their culture and culture. civilization.
“Part of the Egyptian-Chinese cooperation consists of all these young people present here, because each of them will throw a brick in the bridge of cooperation between Egypt and China,” the Egyptian professor told the participants.
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