Egypt's Pharaonic-style park opens museum on Chinese culture

Egypt's Pharaonic Village park near the capital Cairo opened on Sunday evening a museum on the Chinese culture and civilization.

Chinese artists perform tea art and Chinese calligraphy during the opening ceremony of a museum on the Chinese culture and civilization in the Pharaonic Village park of Cairo, Egypt, March 18, 2018. Egypt's Pharaonic Village park near the capital Cairo opened on Sunday evening a museum on the Chinese culture and civilization. [Photo/Xinhua]

The museum starts with a map of China's provinces based on population distribution, while the center of the main hall contains a model of the Great Wall of China and another one of the Forbidden City, the historical home of many Chinese emperors.

Located on a main street in Giza province, the well-known Pharaonic Village, which tells visitors the history of ancient Egypt through depicting the everyday life of the Pharaohs, seeks to introduce the Chinese culture to its visitors as one of the oldest civilizations in the world.

"The growing Sino-Egyptian relations in various fields, the amazing rise and development of China, and the desire of Egyptians and Arabs to know more about the Chinese experience are reasons behind the village's establishment of this museum," Magdy al-Zayyat, the Pharaonic Village's general manager, told Xinhua at the opening ceremony.

He added that the Chinese Museum in the Pharaonic Village realizes a dream of the village's founder Hassan Ragab, who was the first Egyptian Ambassador to China following the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1956.

The museum, with the ceiling decorated with Chinese red lanterns, introduces the history of China.

It also exhibits a gallery of the four great Chinese inventions that influenced the entire world, namely papermaking, gunpowder, printing and the compass.

"I am happy to attend the opening of this museum which gives the visitors a brief and interesting idea about China, its ancient civilization and bright present," Shi Yuewen, cultural counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Cairo, told Xinhua.

"Since the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Egypt over 60 years ago, the ties between the two countries have been growing, especially under Chinese President Xi Jinping and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who both agreed to elevate the relations to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership," he added.