The Confucius Institute at Ain Shams University celebrates The Chinese New Year

The Confucius Institute at Ain Shams University organized a celebration of the Chinese Spring Festival and the Chinese New Year, under the patronage of Prof. Mohamed Diaa, President of Ain Shams University, Prof. Ghada Farouk, Vice President of the University for Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs, Prof. Salwa Rashad, Dean of the Faculty of Al-Alsun, Prof. Nasser Abdel-Al, Director of the Institute and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Al-Alsun for Education and Student Affairs.

The events were held on the stage of the conference hall at the university's Faculty of Pharmacy, with the participation of an elite group of professors and students from Chinese language departments in Egyptian universities and a large number of students from the Confucius Institute at Ain Shams University, along with a number of professors and students from the university's Faculty of Al-Alsun.

The ceremony was witnessed by Prof. Saleh Hashem, former president of Ain Shams University. From the Chinese side, the Minister Plenipotentiary, Director of the Educational Office of the Chinese Embassy, Lu Xun Chen, Mr. Shao Bin, Director of the Chinese Cultural Center in Cairo, representatives of Chinese institutions and companies in Egypt, and a group of Egyptian and Chinese professors, officials, and students were present.

At the beginning of her speech, Prof. Ghada Farouk, Vice President of Ain Shams University for Community Service and Environmental Development, congratulated the attendees of the celebration of the Chinese Spring Festival, wishing it a happy year, and stressed that Egypt and China have close mutual relations.

She pointed out that cooperation between Ain Shams University and Chinese universities has witnessed great momentum over the past ten years, and that Ain Shams University is the first university in the Middle East to establish a department for Chinese language studies at the Faculty of Al-Alsun, pointing out that the ancient Egyptian university has aspects of cooperation between it and other universities. China, such as Wuhan University, Peking University, Shanghai University, Guangdong University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, and others, in addition to the fact that there are many young Egyptians from the university studying in many Chinese universities.

As expressed by Prof. Ghada Farouk that she hopes for more cooperation between universities, especially in the field of scientific research, and for the Confucius Institute at the university to serve as an Egyptian window on ancient Chinese civilization.

For his part, Minister Plenipotentiary Lushun Chen expressed his happiness with the hospitality of Ain Shams University and extended his congratulations to the attendees on the New Year, adding that the year 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The minister explained that the past ten years of the Egyptian-Chinese partnership were ten golden years, hoping that the next ten years will be brighter.

Minister Plenipotentiary Lushun Shen described Ain Shams University as one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the Middle East and Africa, and that it has many partnerships and mutual research and has been at the forefront in the field of e-learning, which will open the door to opportunities for scientific research and student exchange.

At the conclusion of his speech, the Minister Plenipotentiary explained that the symbol of the new year, “the dragon,” indicates strength, grace, and blessing, wishing the students and faculty members success in this year.

Prof. Nasser Abdel-Al, Director of the Confucius Institute, said that the Chinese Spring Festival celebration is the most important Chinese holiday and is called the Lunar New Year.

Prof. Nasser Abdel-Al praised the efforts made in the celebration, which expresses Ain Shams University’s warmth towards Chinese culture and the common appreciation between the Egyptian and Chinese cultures.

The celebration included honoring the first generation in the specialty of Chinese studies, who bore the responsibility of teaching Chinese language, literature, and culture in Egyptian and Arab universities, namely: Prof. Mona Fouad, Prof. Ibrahim Al-Sayed Mohamed, Prof. Nahla Gharib, Prof. Ninet Naim, Prof. Jan Ibrahim, Prof. Esther William and Prof. Abdul Aziz Hamdi

The celebration activities also included holding a large artistic ceremony, which witnessed a large turnout from students, during which the Egyptian and Chinese students presented various and diverse artistic performances, such as the Chinese song “The Beautiful Family,” the “Land of Ceremonies” dance, the play “Tiger Without Sons,” musical performances, and reciting a poem entitled "Happy Chinese New Year".