“But their eating habits are different： the Chinese always eat atfixed times， but the Egyptians have lunch anytime from 2 to 5 in theafternoon. In addition， the ways they express their feelings are not thesame. The Egyptians are comparatively more straight and open： whentwo friends meet， they hug and kiss each other， but the Chinese arerather conservative. However， these superficial differences are not important. Theimportant thing is that Hussein loves this country， and this love is apparentwhenever he talks about China， or goes on holiday here. In Julythis year， he went to Beidaihe in North China’s Hebei Province withhis colleagues.
“The name ‘Beidaihe’ reminds me of many things， many faces，many places， plants， parks， flowers， beaches， shells， and conversations…
The last time I went to Beidaihe was in 2001， when I learned266 that Beijing had successfully bid to host the Olympic Games in 2008. Hussein says that it took four hours to Beidaihe from Beijing bytrain in the 1990s， but today the distance is covered in an hour and ahalf. Beidaihe was also the favorite summer resort of Mao Tse-tung.
Hussein once saw a picture of Mao swimming at Beidaihe， and whenhe swam there， he often imagined himself swimming in the same placeMao had been.
In Hussein’s eyes， Beidaihe is no longer a pristine seashore city.
It is now a gorgeous blend of China and its northern neighbor Russia.
“Almost all the shops， restaurants and hotels there bear Chinesecharacters and Russian letters，” he says. “Chinese， Russian， Arabic andAmerican songs can be heard from the speakers along the seashore.
When I heard an Arabic tune from a BMW car I thought that the driverwould be an Arab. But I finally found out he was an Azerbaijanian. Heloved Arabic music. Hussein sighs with emotion. “Beidaihe has become a mini UnitedNations， where people talk about politics， economy， culture， Iraq，George W. Bush， Gaza， Fatah and Israel as well as the global economicsystem， Islamism， Christianity and Judaism… “To me， Beidaihe is no longer just a place for holiday， but a worldwithin which to broaden my views，” he says thoughtfully. “It relievesme from daily life full of people， shops， city noise and traffic jams. Hussein is a person with independent views. This can be gaugedfrom the fact that he has never given himself a Chinese name. He believesforeign names are not conducive for fostering communication.
He says， “Supposing I have a Chinese friend called Wang Hao，with the foreign name of Joseph. He works in a news agency in China，and I only know his foreign name. When I visit his office， nobodywould know who I am looking for， if I mention the name Joseph. Likewiseif I call his home number and say that I want to talk to Joseph，his family members wouldn’t know whom to look for. Also， supposingI have a Chinese name called Zhang Zhou， it may be easy for my Chinese friends to remember. But when my Egyptian friends or mycolleagues call me by my real name， few Chinese people will get it. After more than ten years in China， Hussein has completelymelted into the Chinese lifestyle. His family is just like an ordinaryChinese family. In the day， the adults go to work and the children toschool. In the evening， after dinner， the whole family sits and chats，and then goes to bed. On weekends， they go to a nearby supermarketto purchase enough food for the week. When friends come over， theygo to the park and have dinner together.
“It is very important that my children know about Chinese culture， says Hussein. “My daughter and son are both studying in theXiyi Primary School in Haidian District， in the third grade and firstgrade respectively. Hussein encourages his children to learn about Chinese cultureand art， for instance the Peking Opera， Chinese traditional dance and26 8 kung fu.
His children participate actively in the art shows organized bytheir school. In 2005， his daughter took part in the CCTV Peking OperaContest for Pupils. Her wonderfully authentic performance wonover the Chinese audience and she took the top prize. His son oftendemonstrates his kung fu in some Wushu contests， and often wows audienceswith his style.
Hussein hopes his children grow up to become good， virtuouscitizens， and of great use to society in the future.
When he’s asked about his own plans for the future， he says， simply，“God knows. “This has something to do with the Islam，” he continues. “OnlyAllah arranges everything， so I don’t think about the future. By Zhang Hua
Translated by Xu LinRevised by K. Krishna