Under the starlit sky of Giza on November 24, 2025, Chinese piano virtuoso Lang Lang took the stage at the foot of the pyramids to launch the first-ever Pyramids Echo Festival (TPE), delivering a performance that many called nothing short of magical. The historic setting, the Giza Plateau, served as more than a backdrop: it turned the concert into a momentous bridge between cultures, eras, and musical traditions.
Lang Lang opened with classical masterpieces by the likes of Claude Debussy, Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin, weaving technical precision with emotional depth in a solo set that earned immediate acclaim. He then pivoted to a stirring rendition of the Chinese folk song Jasmine Flower, followed by a piano reinterpretation of a melody by the celebrated Egyptian composer Sayed Darwish. Blending Chinese folk art with Egyptian musical heritage drew warm, enthusiastic applause.
As if to deepen the symbol of cross-cultural harmony, Lang Lang invited a rising talent, Egyptian-Hungarian violinist Amira Abouzahra, to perform with him and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra (RPCO), under the baton of conductor Ben Palmer. Their orchestral performance fused East, West and North African musical sensibilities under the night sky – a vivid emblem of global artistic exchange.
One Egyptian spectator captured the spirit of the night: for many in the audience, Egyptians, Chinese, and travelers from around the world, the concert felt like a dream. Performing next to one of humanity’s oldest monuments, Lang Lang told Xinhua he was “grateful and humbled,” calling the night “a dream come true.”
This concert isn’t just an artistic event, it reflects deeper, growing China-Egypt cooperation across multiple fronts. Cultural diplomacy has long been a pillar of their engagement: earlier in 2025, a joint concert held in Cairo to commemorate the first UN International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations featured Chinese and Egyptian musicians, underscoring a shared commitment to cultural exchange.
The Pyramids Echo Festival builds on a tradition of Sino-Egyptian musical cooperation: in 2023, performers from China and Egypt collaborated in concerts held at the pyramids and the Sphinx as part of heritage celebrations, blending traditional Chinese instruments with Arab-heritage melodies.
As Chinese investment and diplomacy in Africa often focus on infrastructure, trade, and development, events like this remind us that culture and art – the shared language of humanity, remain at the heart of genuine, long-lasting partnerships.
For Egypt, the festival themed “Cradle of Civilizations: Meeting Point of Arts and Cultures” reaffirms its role as a cultural bridge between Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, while opening its heritage sites to new forms of global creative exchange.
