Summer has come again to Tianjin University’s campus. A precious chance to enjoy the magnificent blossoms and romantic views. Among all the tourists and students, a girl wearing martial arts clothes catches the eye. Angi Hany Mostafa Kamal Alkhatib comes from Egypt. She has named herself Lin Fengyang in Chinese. The 22-year-old girl, with a brilliant smile on her face, is currently studying Chinese on the exchange program at Tianjin University’s School of International Education.

Angi studies Chinese at TJU’s School of International Education

Angi completed six semesters of Chinese at Ain Shames University in Cairo, Egypt before receiving a Confucius Institute Scholarship (CIS) and coming to Tianjin University for a year, where she credits her fluency in Chinese today. The study of the Chinese language, the most widely spoken language in the world, opens a path to different important fields such as Chinese politics, economy, history, as well as international exchange opportunities. She has a wide range of interests in language study and has acquired proficiency in English, German, and French. Besides these languages, she chose to study Chinese for several reasons. First, China’s close proximity to Egypt. Her interest in Asia and China began early on and she wanted a better understanding of Chinese culture because it has such a mysterious and rich history as same as Egypt. Second, the knowledge of Chinese is a great conversation starter. In addition, she pursued Chinese because she believed the ability to speak Chinese is becoming increasingly important nowadays.

“I think it’s essential to learn it because China is a cultural and economic giant in today’s world. Having even a rudimentary knowledge of Mandarin allows a person to travel to China and navigate the culture,” said Angi, “Besides, my father always encourages me to study Chinese, as he sees the rapid development of China, he believes that studying Mandarin will bring more job and business opportunities.”

She plans to pursue a master’s degree in the Chinese Language at Tianjin University after graduation, with an eye toward a future career as a Chinese teacher or Chinese tour guide. Also, another professional pursuit for Angi is to become a martial arts coach.

When Angi was six years old, she became interested in martial arts and joined a club with a friend in a boy’s school. Every day after class, they put on white martial arts clothes and hurried to the club for practice, and she has been practicing for 16 years. “Learning martial arts is very hard. At first, we practiced two hours every day for foundation and basic skills; then, after our body got accustomed to the high intensity of practice, our coach increased the practice time to four hours every day.”

Angi won multiple martial arts competition awards in Egypt and internationally

Angi was rewarded for her diligent and hard practice, she won multiple martial arts competition awards in Egypt and internationally including fourth prizes in the 2015 World Wushu Championships for Southern fist (Nanquan) in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the 4th European Kung Fu Championships 2017 in Tbilisi. In addition, she also won the first prizes in Cairo Martial Arts Competition, Egypt National Martial Arts Competition, and Egypt College Students Martial Arts Competition.

“It may be that martial arts have such power to change lives because it is more than just a fighting technique,” said Angi. “After I came to China, I was obsessed with Chinese Kung Fu. Kung means work or energy and fu means time. So, whatever you want to master, you need kung fu.” Developed by the monks of the Shaolin temple in China, kung fu is a philosophy that can be applied to any skill or discipline. “There are a lot of martial arts styles in China, for example, Tai Chi is the old practice, and Southern Fist is very energetic. I like Southern Fist the most, because it is suitable for my character and capacity. Therefore I studied Southern Fist, Southern Style Sword, and Southern Style Stick. In the mastery of Kung Fu, people have to learn the principles of respect, loyalty, patience, perseverance, and courage. It illustrates Kung Fu’s basic premise that you train not to dominate others, but to dominate yourself,” Angi continued.

Angi loves the faculty, infrastructure, international atmosphere, and study environment at Tianjin University. “I like being a student here, all the international students have a voice and we can be listened to. I like the faculty members here, they devote themselves to work not for financial income, and they really love their job and really likes teaching.” Angi also talked about her impression of TJU, as the oldest institute of higher education in the modern history of China, TJU’s 122-year history is the epitome of the progress of modern Chinese higher education. The university’s reputation has been earned not only for its advanced and high-level education, but for its beautiful scenery as well as the open and creative atmosphere.

The presence of international students on campus means a greater diversity of opinions, perspectives and knowledge to add to the diversity of thought on campus. As the economy becomes more global in scope, interaction with students from all different countries becomes an essential part of higher education at Tianjin University.

By: Qin Mian

Editor: Keith Harrington