Chinese-language comedy competition for Egyptian college students held in Cairo

The 5th Chinese-Language Comedy Competition for Egyptian College Students was held on Thursday in the Confucius Institute Theater of Cairo University.

Students perform during the Chinese-Language Comedy Competition for Egyptian College Students in Cairo, Egypt, on April 18, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

Students from 10 Egyptian universities, including Cairo University, Suez Canal University and Ain Shams University, took part in the contest, which attracted an audience of more than 200.

"Things happened during the Dragon Boat Festival," a short comedy written and performed by students from the Confucius Institute of Cairo University, won the first place. The story told an interesting process of foreign friends learning the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday.

Amira Nasr, a sophomore majoring in Chinese at Helwan University, won the Best Actress Award for her performance in the comedy "For the Children," where she, as the mother of a high school examinee, had to cover up the conflicts with her husband in order to give her child a tranquil study environment.

"I've searched many classic Chinese comedy sketches online, imitated the moves and facial expressions from other female actresses to better present the character. The preparation took me two weeks," Nasr told Xinhua.

She said she plans to study in China and become a Chinese-language teacher in Egypt after return.

"I want more Egyptians to know the charm of Chinese language and its culture," the Egyptian student explained.

Wang Enjie, the Chinese dean of the Confucius Institute at Cairo university, said this year's competitors "touched on more topics and showed more divergence."

"The pronunciation of Chinese language appeared to be more accurate," Wang added.

He pointed out that Egyptian students tend to add other interesting parts in combination with their own culture during their performance of Chinese comedy, which is a good way to better introduce Chinese culture to foreign countries.

"The ultimate goal of the competition is to enhance Egypt students' motivation and confidence in learning Chinese through entertaining activities," Wang said.