From Chinese Learner to Cultural Ambassador: An Egyptian Guide’s Story

At the 2026 Belt and Road Media Cooperation Forum in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, the podium was occupied not by a high-ranking diplomat or a corporate executive, but by an Egyptian tour guide. Abbas Saeed, whose linguistic precision recently surprised a Global Times reporter, changed how people discuss the Belt and Road Initiative. While the initiative is frequently defined by massive infrastructure projects like ports and railways, Saeed argued that the true strength of the partnership lies in the human connections forged through cultural exchange.

Saeed’s appearance at the forum, which hosted delegates from 182 media outlets across 100 countries, highlighted the role of individuals in international cooperation. He suggested that media and cultural exchanges function as the essential arteries of the initiative, providing a human face to what is often categorized as a collection of trade routes and construction contracts. When people talk about the Belt and Road Initiative, they often think of major projects, trade routes, ports and high-speed railways. But today, I want to talk about its human dimension – the real arteries that connect the hearts and minds of people in our two countries: media and cultural exchanges, Saeed told the forum.

From Language Learner to Cultural Ambassador

Saeed’s path to the international stage began in 2002, when he enrolled in the Department of Chinese Language at Ain Shams University in Egypt. His commitment to mastering the language was absolute; within three months of starting his studies, he stopped speaking Arabic, at least for a while, to force himself into total immersion. I spoke Chinese with my classmates at school, but Chinese was so difficult that they didn’t want to speak it with me. That was fine. I just talked to myself, he recalled. Learning Chinese taught me to listen to myself and gave me a way to communicate with the world.

His dedication was fueled by a desire to challenge the skepticism of his family, who viewed Chinese as an insurmountable linguistic barrier. Everyone in my family said Chinese was the most difficult language in the world. I was determined to prove them wrong – that if you dare to try and believe in yourself, there is no obstacle you cannot overcome, Saeed noted. Born in 1984, he eventually transitioned from a student to a professional tour guide, a role he held for three years before deepening his expertise in diplomatic exchanges.

Translating Civilizations for Modern Travelers

Saeed’s daily work involves translating the history of two ancient civilizations for visitors who may have little prior knowledge of the other. His approach relies on finding common cultural threads to make complex history accessible. When guiding Chinese tourists through the pyramids, he relates Egyptian history to eras familiar to his guests. Conversely, when introducing China to Egyptians, he uses local cultural perspectives to ensure the narrative resonates.

This method of storytelling is, in his view, a form of bridge-building that transcends the economic metrics often used to measure the Belt and Road Initiative. He maintains that while infrastructure investment is crucial for economic development, the lasting impact of the initiative remains in the dialogue between peoples. I don’t want to be just an ordinary tour guide, or an ordinary bridge between people. I want to be a bridge that truly connects them, Saeed said. A bridge, he insists, does not need to stand out or draw attention to itself; its real purpose is to bring people on either side closer, until the distance between them no longer seems so great.