At 8 o'clock Egyptian local time, November 1st, the last performance of the Week of Chinese Culture was given at Alexandria's International Convention Center Theater. Vice-Governor of Alexandria Province Mustafa Kamanle and Chinese Consul-General in Alexandria Zhou Congwu were present at the performance, bringing to an end of all activities in the Week of Chinese Culture except the Show of Chinese Plastic Arts, which is to be closed on November 8th.
The closing performance was co-hosted by the Central National Traditional Musical Instruments Orchestra, the Acrobatic Troupe of China and the Peking Opera Troupe of China. What is noteworthy is that, compared with the opening performance given at Cairo, some items in Peking Opera and acrobatics have been rearranged to suit the taste of the audience. Such well-knit and fully dynamic items as Stealing Celestial Herbs (Peking Opera) and Jumping through Ground Hoops (acrobatics) were added, which attracted more audience and the atmosphere became more animated. The items Angling, Juggling with Feet for Two Performers, Jumping through Ground Hoops and Rolling Glasses were warmly welcomed by the audience. The Egyptian song Baisbusha,sung by Zhu Mingying, touched the audience so vehemently that some of them clapped their hands while joining in the singing. When the performance ended, some viewers, leaving the theater, spoke with thumbs up in English to the Chinese journalists carrying camera on the shoulder, The performance is wonderful! Quite a few viewers said that it was the first time they watched a Chinese performance, in which they thought there were much in common between the Chinese culture and the Egyptian culture. An Egyptian family of three said excitedly that The Hegemon King Bidding Farewell to His Concubine was the first Chinese Peking Opera they ever watched. Through the captions they were able to grasp the meaning of the story. They thought that Chinese Peking Opera is really marvelous. Other viewers said that though Egypt is known as the home of acrobatics boasting superb skills since ancient times, they could not but admire China for the phenomenal feats of the acrobatic performance.
The mainstream mass media in Egypt made objective reports to the full on the activities arranged for the Week of Chinese Culture and the completion of the Cultural Center of China. The Pyramid, The Republic and Egypt in Progress reported on the front page the news of Egyptian Premier interviewing Chinese Minister Sun Jiazheng, the opening of the Week of Chinese Culture and the completion of the Cultural Center of China. Wide coverage was given to relevant activities. Egypt's official news agency, the Middle East also made serial reports on the activities. The Egyptian National TV Stations 1 and 3, the Nile Satellite News TV, the Nile Satellite Culture TV, and the Nile Satellite International TV also covered relevant news and broadcasted world wide special English program.
Nie Guo'an, Chinese Cultural Attach¨¦ to Egypt, told the journalists that the Week of Chinese Culture has achieved satisfactory results. It has attained the expected objective, he said. The activities have met the desire of more and more Egyptians who yearn to understand China in development and it reveals to Egypt or rather the whole Arabic world the new look of China as well.
By Zhang Xiaolan
(China Cultural News)
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