My China Fate

Sarah Khattab, Egypt/沙拉，埃及

I am an Egyptian scholar from the International Business and Economics University in China. I'm so happy to share my special story in China with you; for many reasons, China will forever have a very special place in my heart.

我是对外经济贸易大学驻中国的埃及学者。我很高兴与大家分享我在中国的特殊故事，由于许多原因，中国将永远在我心中有一个非常特殊的位置。

Journey to China中国之旅

My Mother and I/我与我的母亲

China and the Chinese language have always had a strong presence in my life. This presence came from my mother, who is a Chinese language professor in Egypt. She has taught Chinese mandarin for over 30 years. Her love for China influenced my decision to come to China as she always considered it her second home country. This is also why I have been so passionate about moving to China and completing my studies there. The beginning of my journey in China started in 2019 when I was accepted into the Chinese Scholarship Council's (CSC) scholarship program to do my Master's degree in international business. When I first arrived in China, I felt amazed and overwhelmed by everything in China. Coming from Egypt, a developing country with a great history like China, I immensely appreciated the intangible cultural aspects preserved all across China. The initial difference observed between my country and China was that China was more technologically advanced. It was very impressive.

中国和汉语一直在我的生活中占有重要地位。这种存在来自于我的母亲，她是埃及的一名汉语教授，她教中文普通话已有 30 多年，她对中国的热爱影响了我来中国的决定，因为她一直感觉中国是她的第二个祖国，这也是为什么我如此热衷于搬到中国并在这里完成我的学业。我在中国的旅程始于 2019 年，当时我被中国国家留学基金委 (CSC) 奖学金项目录取，攻读国际商务硕士学位。我刚来到中国时，对中国的一切感到惊讶和不知所措，我来自埃及这样一个和中国一样有着悠久历史的发展中国家，对中国各地保存下来的非物质文化非常欣赏。我所观察到的我国和中国之间的最初差异是，中国在技术上更先进。

Making Chinese Zongzi with my mom/和我妈妈一起做粽子

My first year was full of curiosity about Chinese culture, customs, people, and language. Through great exposure, I learned a lot, not just academically but also socially and personally. I also realized many similarities between Egyptian and Chinese cultures, especially during the dragon boat festival celebrations. I enjoyed rolling the seed paper with sticky rice and folding it with little threads. It was a very special moment for my mother and me, as it was our first time making Chinese Zongzi in China. Celebrating this festival in an authentic Chinese atmosphere made us feel much closer to the culture and Chinese people. In our special feasts and festivals, we also celebrate by cooking and making particular unique food in distinctive ways. This also made me realize that although the two countries are geographically far from each other, they are very close in their culture.

在中国的第一年我充满了对中国文化、习俗、人民和语言的好奇。通过大量接触我学到了很多，不仅在学术上，而且在社会和个人方面。我也意识到埃及和中国文化之间的许多相似之处，特别是在端午节庆祝活动期间。我喜欢用粽子纸（叶）卷糯米，然后用细线把它折叠（绑）起来。这对我和妈妈来说是一个非常特别的时刻，因为这是我们第一次在中国做粽子。在真实的中国氛围中庆祝端午节日，让我们感觉更接近中国文化和中国人民。在我们的特殊节日中，我们还通过独特的方式烹饪和制作特别独特的食物来庆祝，这也让我意识到，尽管两国在地理上相距遥远，但在文化习惯上却有很多非常接近的地方。

2020 Challenges and Opportunities 2020 年挑战与机遇

In 2020 everything changed, not just for me but for everyone living in China, as it was the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was truly a challenging time in my life; however, it came with many opportunities and benefits as I witnessed how a great country like China controlled the pandemic. That same year my family decided to move also to China due to my mother's new post in the Egyptian embassy in Beijing. A year later, I completed my Master's studies with honors in 2021 and started my Ph.D. the same year. It was a very proud moment in my academic journey as I earned second place in my MBA 2019 cohort with a GPA of 3.89. This achievement motivated me even more to take a further step in my academic career, similar to my mother, starting my journey to become a scholar. It felt historical to be one of the students who were able to be in China during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic while also continuing my studies.

2020年，一切都发生了变化，不仅对我来说，对生活在中国的每个人来说，这是新冠肺炎疫情的初始阶段。这是我生命中一个真正具有挑战性的时刻；然而，当我亲眼目睹像中国这样的大国如何控制疫情时，它带来了许多机遇和好处。同年，由于我母亲在埃及驻北京大使馆的新职位，我的家人也决定搬到中国。一年后，我在 2021 年以优异成绩完成了硕士学业，并于同年开始攻读博士学位。这是我学术旅程中非常自豪的时刻，因为我以 3.89 的 GPA 在 2019 年 MBA 课程中获得第二名。这一成就更激励我在学术生涯中迈出了与母亲相似的一步，开始了我成为学者的历程。能够在疫情流行的挑战时期留在中国，同时继续学业，我觉得自己是一名具有历史意义的学生。

However, the year 2020 presented unexpected hurdles in my personal life. During that period, my partner and I were in a pandemic-induced long-distance relationship for over two years. It was a situation both of us did not expect to occur, like many other families and loved ones across China separated from their significant others during that time. At that time, no one knew when the policies would change due to the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 virus. Luckily my partner shared the same passion for studying in China. Therefore, for our relationship and to be reunited again, he began his journey to enroll in a Master's degree program at my university. In 2021 he received a CSC scholarship which started online; however, after two and a half years of not being able to enter China, it truly became unbearable. After seven years together, our relationship entered the most challenging period. I had to decide whether I would return to Egypt to reunite with my partner or not. Being in China meant a lot to me as it felt like fate, starting as early as my mother's teachings during my childhood. I knew that I still needed more time and effort in China and couldn't give up on my China dream so easily. It was the most difficult decision I had to make in my life, to choose between my dream and my love. This led us to think intensely about what we both wanted out of life and ways to achieve it. During that period, my family was also leaving China as my mother completed her two-year post in Beijing and was ready to return to Egypt. I still didn't want to leave; deep inside, I wanted to stay longer here and had faith that China was and will always be good to me.

然而，2020 年在我的个人生活中出现了意想不到的障碍。在那段时间里，我和我的伴侣由疫情引起的异地恋长达两年多，这是我们两人都没有预料到的情况，就像中国其他许多家庭和亲人在那段时间里与他们的亲人分离一样。当时，由于新冠肺炎病毒的不可预测性，没有人知道政策何时会改变，幸运的是，我的伴侣对在中国学习有着同样的热情，于是，为了我们的感情，让我们再次团聚，他开始申请在我的学校读硕士。2021，他获得了CSC奖学金，该奖学金开始于网上，然而，在两年半无法进入中国后，他变得难以接受。在一起七年时期，我们的关系进入了最具挑战性的时期。我必须决定是否要返回埃及与我的伴侣团聚。在中国对我来说意义重大，就像命运一样，早在我童年时母亲的教导就开始了，我知道我在中国还需要更多的时间和精力，不能轻易放弃我的中国梦。这是我一生中最艰难的决定，在我的梦想和我的爱情之间做出选择。这让我们开始认真思考我们都想从生活中得到什么，以及实现它的方法，在那段时间里，我的家人也准备离开中国，因为我母亲完成了她在北京的两年工作，准备返回埃及，我还是不想走， 在内心深处，我想在这里多待一段时间，并且相信中国对我们永远都会很好。

Reunited again再次团聚

Surprisingly, my partner found a way to enter China a few days before my family left. It was the happiest day of my life. To my further surprise, he then proposed. I was lucky to have had enough time to plan a wedding and get married in the most beautiful and unique country. We planned for the wedding and prepared everything in less than a week as we had to get married before my family left China. Coming from an Arabic culture, I wasn't allowed to stay in China with my partner without having an official status.

令人惊讶的是，我的伴侣在我家人离开前几天找到了进入中国的途径，这是我一生中最快乐的一天。令我更加惊讶的是，他随后求婚了，我很幸运有足够的时间在这个最美丽、最独特的国家策划婚礼和结婚，我们在不到一周的时间里为婚礼做了准备，因为我们必须在我的家人离开中国之前结婚，来自阿拉伯文化，如果没有官方身份，我不能和我的伴侣一起留在中国。

The Egyptian ambassador to China, who I consider my second father, insisted on hosting the wedding at his official residence in China, making this occasion have even more of a special meaning to us. We got married in China, so China will always have a special place in my heart. I now also consider China my second home country, just like my mother always has.

埃及驻中国大使是我的第二个父亲，坚持在他的官邸为我们举行婚礼，这个场合对我们有更加特别的意义。我们是在中国结婚的，所以中国在我心中永远有一个特殊的位置，我现在感觉中国是我的第二故乡，就像我母亲一直以来的那样。

My Husband and I/我与我的丈夫

Future Hopes 未来的希望

China gave and still gives me a lot of good opportunities. The chance to live the life I've always dreamed of with the love of my life, reuniting us again in the most iconic way. It also gave me the platform to share my background and culture of my nation, a great Arabic country, with the world. China is the platform where I share all my experiences and dreams with the rest of the world. Feeling so proud to be an Egyptian scholar who is living in the world's greatest country. I encourage all youth not to be afraid to pursue their dreams.

中国给了我很多很好的机会。有机会与我一生的挚爱一起过上我一直梦想的生活，以最具标志性的方式让我们再次团聚。这也给了我一个平台，让我与世界分享我的背景和文化，关于我的国家，一个伟大的阿拉伯国家。中国是我与世界分享我所有经历和梦想的平台。作为一名埃及学者生活在世界上最伟大国家，我感到非常自豪，我鼓励所有的年轻人不要害怕去大胆追求他们的梦想。

审校：张红霞

编辑：岳零然

英文审校：Dahlia A. Ducreay

供稿：Sarah Khattab

执行副总编辑：季昌仁

监制：杨东平   徐志强   蒋   涛

丝路国际智库理事长：杨邦杰  

丝路百科杂志社理事长：白庚胜

丝路国际智库专家委员会主任：顾伯平