Egyptian tour guide says BRI makes his life splendid
（文章来源：Global Times）
On the center of page 18 of the People's Daily newspaper issued on Dec. 25, 2023, there is a photo in which an Egyptian tour guide is passionately explaining something to Chinese tourists. This tour guide is Abbas El-Said. It is the second time for him to be reported by People's Daily, and the first time came 11 years ago when a journalist from People's Daily, captured a moment of Abbas, who was 28 and served as an assistant to the director of the China Cultural Center in Cairo, telling stories about the 12 Chinese zodiac animals to local students at the Center. This photo appeared on page 19 of the June 8, 2012 edition of People's Daily.
"I always have the photo of this precious report in my phone, and I often show it to my friends, colleagues, family, and Chinese tourists. It is my great honor and pride that my photo appeared on People's Daily, China's largest newspaper!" Speaking of the 2012 interview by People's Daily, Abbas was still excited. Though Abbas had no elders in his family well versed in Chinese culture, he still developed a keen interest in China from a young age - a children's book about the East sparked his longing for China. After entering elementary school, his curiosity in and fascination with China further deepened as he learned the stories of the ancient Silk Road, the faraway and beautiful country of ancient China, and the wisdom-filled Confucius and Confucianism. Later, Abbas was admitted to the Chinese language department of Ain Shams University. In order to excel in Chinese, he practiced thinking in Chinese, and his progress was indeed remarkable.
The Egyptian man said that he had three dreams of his life - learning Chinese, being a tour guide, and serving as an envoy of cultural exchange between Egypt and China. And he has always been progressing steadily on this path he has planned. In 2006, Abbas completed his studies at the age of 22 and went on to further his education at Sinai College of Tourism. After graduating in 2009, he officially became a professional Chinese-language tour guide. As a matter of fact, Abbas started receiving Chinese tourists as a sophomore. "By working as a tour guide, I was able to earn an income while practicing my Chinese. Most importantly, being a tour guide allowed me to make friends with more and more Chinese people," he noted. It was also during this year that Abbas started attending various activities at the China Cultural Center in Cairo. "The China Cultural Center is like a window that opens up to Chinese culture, allowing a ray of sunshine to shine into my heart."
In 2010, Abbas became an assistant to the director of the Chinese Cultural Center in Cairo and served for a period of three years. "This job gave me the opportunity to share my love for Chinese culture with more people. Through organizing lectures, exhibitions, and events like the Chinese New Year temple fair, more and more Egyptians started to embrace Chinese culture and became fond of it. Being able to contribute to the bridge of friendship between Egypt and China made me feel incredibly happy," Abbas told People's Daily.
Recently, Abbas has been studying a Chinese word "lianjie" (链接)," which means connectivity. "As ancient civilizations, Egypt and China had friendly exchanges over 2,000 years ago, which marked 'lianjie' in history. The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is 'lianjie' in contemporary times that revitalizes the ancient Silk Road," Abbas explained. He said China actively cooperates with countries around the world for mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, and he believes that in today's turbulent international environment, people will better understand the value and significance of the BRI.
Currently, "lianjie" is more reflected in the synergy between the BRI and Egypt's Vision 2030. "The BRI is helping me fulfill my dreams and also benefiting my country. China has helped us build the Central Business District in our new administrative capital, where the Iconic Tower is known as the 'tallest building in Africa,' which makes us very proud," Abbas noted. He also took the 10th of Ramadan Light Rail Transit program as an example, saying the program, as the first electrified railway in Egypt, adopts Chinese technologies and equipment. "Many Egyptians, including myself, are personally experiencing the tangible benefits and conveniences brought about by the BRI," he said. Abbas said his life would not be the same if he had not studied Chinese or if the BRI had not come to Egypt. "My life is splendid because of the BRI," Abbas noted.
Currently, Abbas is preparing to establish a company that promotes Chinese culture and fosters cultural and economic exchanges between China and Egypt. "I am willing to do my part to strengthen the connection between Egypt and China, bring the two countries closer and build closer ties between the two peoples!" As tourism exchanges between Egypt and China continue to flourish, Abbas has become increasingly busy. Since the beginning of this year, he has been receiving an average of two to three Chinese tour groups every month, with each group staying in Egypt for a minimum of one week and a maximum of 20 days. His busy schedule reflects the accelerated development of bilateral relations between China and Egypt, and highlights the successful implementation of the BRI in Egypt.
In today's Egypt, the pragmatic cooperation between China and Egypt has brought about plenty of employment opportunities, leading to a high demand for Chinese-speaking talents. Learning Chinese has become a popular trend there. In September 2022, a pilot project for Chinese language education in Egyptian secondary schools was launched, marking the inclusion of Chinese language into Egypt's national education system. The growing enthusiasm for the Chinese language and Chinese culture in Egypt demonstrates that the mutual understanding between China and Egypt is built on mutual learning between the two civilizations, and the strongest potential of China-Egypt cooperation lies in people-to-people bond.
Boredom has, surprisingly, become quite interesting to academics lately. In early May, London's Boring Conference celebrated seven years of delighting in dullness. At this event, people flocked to talks about weather traffic jams, and vending-machine sounds, among other sleep-inducing topics.
What, exactly, is everyone studying? One widely accepted psychological definition of boredom is "the unpleasant experience of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activities." But how can you measure a person's boredom level and compare it with someone else's?
In 1986, psychologists introduced the Boredom Proneness Scale, designed to measure an individual's overall tendency to feel bored. By contrast, the Multidimensional State Boredom scale, developed in 2008, measures a person's feelings of boredom in a given situation.
Boredom has been linked to behavior issues including inattentive driving mindless snacking excessive drinking, and addictive gambling. In fact, many of us would choose pain over boredom.
One team of psychologists discovered that two-thirds of men and a quarter of women would rather have electric shocks than sit alone with their thought for 15 minutes. Researching this phenomenon, another team asked volunteers to watch boring, sad, or neutral films, during which they could have electric shocks. The bored volunteers shocked themselves more and harder than the sad or neutral one did.
But boredom isn't all bad. By encouraging self-reflection and daydreaming, it can encourage activity. An early study gave participants abundant time to complete problem-solving and word-association exercises. Once all the obvious answers were exhausted, participants gave more and more inventive answers to fight boredom. A British study took these findings one step further, asking subjects to complete a creative challenge (coming up with a list of alternative uses for a household item). One group of subjects did a boring activity first, while the others went straight to the creative task. Those whose boredom pumps had been prepared were more productive.
In our always-connected world, boredom may be a hard-to-define state, but it is a fertile one. Watch paint dry or water boil, or at least put away your smartphone for a while, and you might unlock your next big idea.
People who have trouble walking or moving around often have a hard time enjoying the beach. But hundreds of beaches in Greece now offer a new way for people in wheelchairs to get into the water by themselves. It's called Seatrac.
Seatrac is basically a chair on a moving ramp (坡道) that can carry a disabled person into the sea. It is operated by remote (远程的) control. Once in the sea, the person can either remain in the chair, enjoying the water, or go for a swim. When the person is ready to get out of the water, the Seatrac system brings the chair back to the top the ramp.
Seatrac was invented and developed in Greece. When one of the inventors, Ignatios Fotiou, was talking with a friend who used a wheelchair, the friend said he enjoyed the sea, but didn't like having to be carried into the ocean. Mr Fotiou realized there must be a way to make it easier for wheelchair users to get into the water. Mr Fotiou worked with his partner and a professor at a Greek university to design the system. Finnally, they formed a company called TOBEA to build and sell the systems.
The company worked hard to make the system simple enough to be put in place and easy to run. A wooden walkway allows wheerchair users to reach the Seatrac. The system uses solar (太阳能的) power. It doesn't require outside power, and can continue to run even if the electricity goes out. The Seatrac system can easily be packed up and stored when the swimming season ends.
The Seatrac system is being used at over 220 beaches in Greece, Cypris, Italy, and Latvia. TOBEA hopes to offer Seatrac in other countries. TOBEA has created a website showing where beaches with these special services can be found. The Greek govenment hopes that Seatrac will help attract more tourists to the country.
