Every time he hears of someone about to visit Egypt， or of Egyptianjournalists visiting China， Hussein offers his assistance. He voluntarilyprovides information about China and Egypt， and makes suggestionsregarding living and travel. Whenever he sees articles in theEgyptian media distorting or misunderstanding the facts about China，he immediately writes articles to reveal the truth.
Years of working and living in China have made him treasure thefriendship between China and Egypt all the more. “The friendship betweenthe two countries is true friendship，” he says. “Friends in needare friends indeed. Hussein believes that there is yet more space for the developmentof relations between China and Egypt.
“I think that there should be more cooperation between the264 two in high-tech， industry， agriculture， training and joint projects inAfrica，” he says. “I wish to see more Chinese investments in Egypt，and more Egyptian investments in China. I want to see more ‘MadeinEgypt’ commodities on the Chinese market， more Egyptian touristscoming to China， and more Chinese tourists going to Egypt. The Life of an Egyptian in ChinaPeople are often curious about of the lives of Egyptians like HusseinHussein in China.
“Language and cultural differences always produce jokes，” hesays.
He recalls how， during his first visit to China he was eager to useChinese expressions as often as possible.
“One day， I visited a friend’s home，” he says. “After playing withhis daughter for a while， I asked her in Chinese， ‘Ni Li Le Ma?’ I intendedto ask， ‘Are you tired?’ Hearing my words， the girl laughed.
Her mother asked her why， and she repeated what I’d said to her mother，who told me that what I’d asked sounded like ‘Have you divorced?’
in Chinese. Once， Hussein went to the Ministry of Culture on some business.
At the gate， he was asked to register. He gave his ID to the guard，which had his name， occupation and home address on it. Then theguard helped him fill in the registration form. When he was about tofill in the blank next to “Sex”， he asked Hussein： “Are you male orfemale?” （There was no this column on the ID） Hussein was not surewhether his clothes or hairstyle had confused the guard， so joked， “I’mfemale.” The guard looked at him and smiled， “You are a man. Hussein laughs and tells two more stories.
“One night， I was invited for dinner to a restaurant. Before dinnerstarted， the waitress asked me what I would like to drink， and Ianswered in Arabic， ‘Shuwoye’， which means ‘Wait a minute， please’。
Two minutes later， the waitress served me with a glass of water. What I’
d said sounded like ‘Water’ in Chinese.
“Another day I was out shopping. The seller thought that I wasa tourist， and asked me to pay 300 yuan for something valued at onlyabout 20 yuan. I pretended to accept the price. When he was sure thatI would buy it， I said to him in Chinese， ‘I will only pay 10 yuan.’ Weboth laughed. He said to me， ‘You are Chinese！’ and I replied， ‘Youare a greedy merchant.’ Many foreigners in China for the first time experience cultureshock. Hussein， however， believes there’s very little clash of culturesbetween China and Egypt， apart from a few differences. He sees bothcultures as originating from the East， with the family as the basic unitand the age-old custom respecting the old and caring for the young.
“We can see similarities in the two cultures，” he says. “In Egypt，during festivals， all the family members get together to enjoy food andshare a togetherness， just as the Chinese do; the Egyptians sweep thetombs of the deceased to show respect for them， just as the Chinese doduring the Qingming Festival.
