I was thoroughly impressed by the book *Thus I Came to Know China: Observations of the First Moroccan Student*. It serves as a journey between the China of yesterday and the China of today\u2014a modern-day voyage in the spirit of Ibn Battuta. The author, the first Moroccan student to study traditional Chinese medicine\u2014specifically acupuncture\u2014in China, embarked on this journey following the implementation of China\u2019s “reform and opening-up” policy in 1978. This is how the Chinese Arabist, Professor Wang Yuyong (Faisal), introduces the memoir and observations of Mohamed Khalil\u2014a work that won the Ibn Battuta Award for Travel Literature in the “Contemporary Travel” category. As the professor describes it, the book functions like a documentary film, rich in detail. It chronicles the author\u2019s academic path in China, delves into the intricacies of his daily life\u2014first at an institute for foreign languages \u200b\u200band later at a college of traditional Chinese medicine\u2014and captures the profound transformations and developments that Chinese society has undergone over the forty years the author spent in the country, whether as a resident student or a traveling visitor. Wang Yuyong explores the connection between the ancient Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta\u2014who visited China in the 14th century and documented his impressions of the people living beyond the world\u2019s longest wall in his travelogue, *Tuhfat al-Nuzzar*\u2014and his own journey as a modern-day Moroccan traveler, Mohamed Khalil. Following in Ibn Battuta\u2019s footsteps, Khalil arrived in contemporary China, guided by the accounts of his predecessor. He reflects on Ibn Battuta\u2019s observations: the artistry of Chinese painters; the mastery of silk and porcelain production; the cultivation of fruits like watermelons and peaches; the use of paper currency; the construction of large ships in Guangzhou; the variety of Chinese cuisine; the prevailing sense of security; the hospitality infrastructure; the deep concern shown toward foreign visitors and merchants; and the care extended to the poor and needy. Khalil also highlights the solidarity of the local Muslim community toward their visiting coreligionists. Ibn Battuta had deemed China the safest and most hospitable land for travelers, noting that the Chinese were the most skilled and precise in their craftsmanship. Mohamed Khalil recounts that he was frequently asked: “What inspired you to travel to the farthest corner of the globe for your studies? What was your academic life like there? How did the Chinese people treat you? What was your daily life like in China?” This book serves as an attempt to answer all these questions\u2014a venture into new horizons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A literary and personal documentation of a Moroccan student\u2019s experience in China, this work explores daily life, customs, culture, history, and political and social transformations, offering a comparison between the China of the past and the present through firsthand observations and real-life experiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":33028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_cat":[901,839,881,854],"product_tag":[1148,1072,2728],"class_list":["post-33037","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-travel-literature","product_cat-history-and-geography","product_cat-tourism-and-trips","product_cat-biography-and-memoirs","product_tag-culture","product_tag-history","product_tag-literature","pa_book-author-mohamed-khalil","first","onbackorder","sale","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/33037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=33037"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=33037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}