Egyptian students put on comedy show in Chinese

An overseas student (right) perform traditional crosstalk at Zhejiang University. File photos: VCG

At a theater decorated with Chinese-style red lanterns, a group of Egyptian students are singing, dancing and acting on the stage in fluent Chinese.

This was the scene at a sketch comedy contest held Thursday evening at the Confucius Institute for Chinese learning at Cairo University for students from the Chinese language departments and Confucius institutes of several public and private universities across Egypt.

One of the sketches tells of a quarrel between family members, another features a group of rappers in glittering LED outfits, and a third is a comedy in which a girl with a fake mustache plays the role of a father.

With their performance of The Taste of Mum, Pharos University in Alexandria defeated the other 11 teams to win first prize. They also took home the best actress award.

"It's been a great honor to join this contest. We worked very hard and practiced day and night to reach this level of performance. It was such a great experience," said Sara Samir, winner of the best actress.

"I am not only learning the Chinese language, but also Chinese culture. Contests such as this will allow Chinese people to learn about my culture. It's a cultural interaction between the two civilizations," the student told the Xinhua News Agency at the event.

The second prize was shared by the teams of the Confucius Institute of Cairo University and the Faculty of Al-Alsun (Languages) of Suez Canal University.

Sense of pride

Xu Yangfan, a Chinese teacher from the Confucius Institute of Cairo University and an organizer of the contest, was proud of her students' achievement.

"I am very glad that a lot of Egyptian students study Chinese and are interested in participating in this type of contest to show their command of the Chinese language and knowledge about Chinese culture," Xu said.

Teams from the Chinese language departments at Cairo University, Beni Suef University and Suez University shared the third prize.

The contest's best actor was Mahmoud El-Sayed from Suez University and the most fluent performer was Sarah El-Baz from Suez Canal University.

"Such activities bring our cultures closer, increase our passion for the [Chinese] language, and allow us to practice what we have learned. All that we have learned is shown here. It's so beautiful," El-Baz told Xinhua.

"My dream is to work as a translator in China someday," she added.

The students' performances were received with laughter, cheers and applause from the packed audience.

"I really enjoyed the shows so much. All the participating teams presented amazing performances. We are very proud of them," said Hesham Magdy, a student at the Chinese department of the Faculty of Arts, Suez University.

Tied together

Rehab Mahmoud, director of the Confucius Institute at Cairo University, said that the competition shows the students' proficiency in the Chinese language and knowledge of the Chinese culture.

She noted that the number of Egyptian students learning Chinese language is increasing and that a lot of Egyptian universities now have Chinese language departments.

"The Chinese language has a broad cultural dimension since it is associated with a very ancient and unique civilization. Therefore, it is very important for a student learning Chinese language to know about China's culture and society," she said.