In Beijing, there's a growing Arab community, and many of them are students. In 2017, the Beijing Institute of Technology had over 2,200 international students from 137 countries, and 5 percent of them came from Arab countries.

One of them is Mohamed Afifi from Cairo, Egypt, who is currently pursuing a PhD in material science and engineering. The 32-year-old was granted a Chinese government scholarship, giving him the opportunity to focus on his research work full time.

Mohamed explained that here in Beijing he's able to devote all his time to doing his research, a luxury he could not afford back home. In Egypt, his time was divided as he also had a job as a teacher. 

"I think China is a good direction because of the environment, because of technology, because of people, because of facilities," Afifi said. "In summary, it's a mix of the cocktail of different advantages for studying and doing research."

The football, chess and photography enthusiast also noted how friendly and caring his teachers and Chinese classmates were from the very start. They helped him with everything, from directions to the subway to translation work. And when he needed them the most, they went the extra mile.

"I tell you, I got sick before one year ago and I was in [the] hospital. The Chinese used to come to me to the hospital because at that time I didn't know the regulations and how it works. They helped me and stayed with me at the hospital during my sickness. So I feel like I'm with my family... I'm really very happy being here," Afifi said.

One of his main concerns was that there would be no Halal food, or that there would be no places of worship for him here in China. But that quickly disappeared along with his other fears once he arrived.

"At first I was afraid [of] culture shock or something. But then I figured out there's no big gap between cultures, between us and China," Afifi said. "I think we are so close in culture... Foreigners here in my school are from many countries around the world. So I learned a lot about different cultures – how to receive, how to understand. A lot of knowledge about different religions, different points of view... In China, yes, I admit I have changed completely."

Thanks to his university program, Afifi has already published work in his field of study. And he is hoping that will lead to a future career in academia.

(Cover photo: Mohamed Afifi speaks to CGTN about his student experience in China. /CGTN Photo)