Introduction

The China Cultural Center in Cairo is the first large-scale cultural center set up overseas by the Chinese Government in the 21 century. On October 29, 2002, the then Chinese Minister of Culture Sun Jiazheng formally inaugurated the Center. The China Cultural Center in Cairo is aimed at introducing and promoting Chinese culture and arts; further strengthening the bilateral exchange and cooperation in the various fields of language, literature, education, and scientific research; facilitating the implementation of the Bilateral Cultural Accord and thus further enhancing the friendship and cultural relations of the Chinese and Egyptian peoples.

Facilities

The China Cultural Center in Cairo is located in the Giza District in Big Cairo, with the Great Pyramids visible in the distance. The Center covers an area of 2,000 square meters. Inside the main six-story building, including one underground floor, there is a multi-function hall, an exhibition hall, classrooms, language center, library, reception room and dining hall. It is a very modern construction equipped with advanced facilities and has multiple functions.

1. Multi-functional hall: Located on the ground floor of the main building, the hall covers an area of 200 square meters and can hold 120 chairs at one time. The mini-stage inside the hall is made of wood and equipped with professional lighting and sound systems, which is fully equipped to handle small-scale performances and high-quality film screenings, or can be used as the dais for conferences and meetings. It can also holds balls.

2. Exhibition hall: Located on the first floor of the main building, the hall covers an area of 88.8 square meters, with 63-meter-long exhibiting line and 34 professional shooting lights. Foldaway wood wall is installed in the hall, which can separate the exhibition hall into two parts when necessary. There is also a dais inside the hall, which can be used both for teaching and exhibiting.

3. Classrooms: There are two classrooms located on the first and the second floor. Opposite to the exhibition hall, there is a small classroom with 24 seats, which is mainly use for daily classes. On the second floor, there is a big classroom. Besides teaching, seminars and other kinds of small-scale activities can also be held here.

4. Language lab: In order to standardize the Chinese language teaching by the China Cultural Center, a language lab with 24 seats is installed inside the Center. Modern equipments have been set up in the lab to improve the quality of teaching.

5. Library: The library is one of the most important establishments of the China Cultural center. It consists of two main parts: the reading room and the stack room. The reading room has an area of 102 square meters, which can hold 60 people at one time. There are various kinds of books, magazines and audio-visual materials displayed for lending. A computer for indexing the books with Internet access is also provided to the readers. The Stack room is spread over 44.4 square meters with the feature of intensiveness. The stack room is inlaid with two parallel rails on which 10 separate bookshelves can move manually. The designed volume of the bookshelves is 50,000 pieces. About 12, 000 books covering various fields like social science, natural science and etc., are available for borrowing.

6. Reception room: The reception room is located on the ground floor inside the main building of the center, which can hold 15 guests at one time. The decoration of the reception room follows the characteristics of Chinese Culture. The yellow wood floorboard echoes with the golden crystal hanging light, which sets off the classical atmosphere of the reception room.

7. Dining hall: Opposite to the reception room, is the dining hall, primarily aimed at serving the guests. The decoration of the dining hall strictly follows that of the reception room. Functions since the inauguration, the China Cultural Center commits itself to further enhance and strengthen the Sino-Egyptian cultural relations. Through various activities conducted by the center itself or in cooperation with local organizations, the Egyptian people are getting more familiar with Chinese culture and arts.

Functions

1. Chinese language teaching: The Chinese language course will be the focus of the daily work of the Center. Seeing the upsurge in Chinese in Egypt, China Cultural Center will start Chinese language teaching classes, employing highly professional teachers with certificates from China.

2. Book lending: Based on the books available and keeping in mind the local practice, the China Cultural Center will draw out relevant regulations and provide the full use of the books resource. Simultaneously, modern multi-media means will be adopted to establish the online library in order to serve the readers in an easier, faster and comprehensive way.

3. Small-scale activities: Diversified activities will be organized by the China Cultural Center by itself or in cooperation with local institutions, in line with the principle of small in scale, various in form and rich in content. Some of these activities will include inviting Chinese arts troupes to perform in the Center; holding exhibitions; organizing seminars, lectures, receptions and symposiums, screening movies and documentaries, etc. Through all these kinds of activities, the China Cultural Center will endeavor to deepen the mutual understandings of the two peoples and convey the Chinese culture.

4. Visitors' reception: For the convenience of visitors from China, the center can provide accommodation and facilities to 10 people.

Contact

Tel: 0020-2-37798203 transfer to 86019/88888

Fax: 0020-2-37798247

E-mail: cairo@culturalink.gov.cn

Website: http://cairo.cccweb.org/