Travel Notes of Egyptian Khan khalili Market

Egyptian Khan khalili market has a long history. It is an ancient market with Islamic elements, and many ancient Islamic cultural buildings and market elements have been perfectly preserved. Here, I would like to share with you the travel notes of Egyptian Khan khalili Market.

Finally went to the legendary sweat last weekend? Khalili market, a well-known market, in my understanding, should be like Huimin Street in Xi and Dashilan in Beijing, all of which are markets for tourists to buy local souvenirs and specialties.

The history of Khan khalili market can be traced back to BC14th century. It was originally built by a businessman named khalili for commercial activities. Since then, vendors have been selling jewelry, gold and silver, copper and high-grade spices here.

Today, Khan khalili Market has become the largest market selling tourist souvenirs and local specialties.

Of course, the raiders said that most of the small commodities here come from Yiwu. But Yiwu doesn't sell these things, so it's good to feel the Arabian customs.

Khan khalili Market is located next to the Hussein Mosque, opposite the famous azhar Mosque in Cairo.

We got off at Azhar Mosque. We want to visit the Azhar Mosque first, but it's a pity that the mosque is being repaired.

Hussein Mosque, Khan khalili Market is on the left.

So I have to go to the market. I don't need security to enter the Khan khalili market. Only policemen with guns are sitting at the door chatting. It's really uncomfortable in this city where you need security as long as you enter shopping malls and hotels.

When we first entered Little Square, we were a little excited when we saw Hussein Mosque, and a strong Arabic flavor came to our face. After some hesitation, we still want to go in and have a look.

So we took off our shoes and went in. Unexpectedly, the uncle who left his shoes at the door said that the lady would go in through another door. All right, give up the trip. Forgive me for not providing you with pictures and information about the mosque.

The weather is a little gloomy, and the dusty Arab buildings make people feel that this trip seems to be such a serious and deep tone, but you are wrong. The later market is still very lively and colorful.

On the left of Little Square is a row of cafes. Because they are a little old, the value of these cafes can't be compared with the elegant and petty-bourgeois cafes in our hearts, but they are also unique. Those doors and chairs are decorated with exquisite Arabic patterns and semi-circular windows, which are in contrast with the decorative patterns of ancient Egypt on the walls and have a sense of beauty that is staggered in time and space.

Red tablecloths and chairs, like women's lipstick, make the whole cafe come alive.

What's interesting is the picture below. The promotion of China's national strength can be traced all over the world.

That's what happened. When we entered the narrow market, merchants greeted us warmly in Chinese all the way, which made us overwhelmed and made us feel very welcome here. Some merchants pointed to a small souvenir and told us in Chinese that "there are only three pieces", which is very interesting.

Alleys are still very emotional, whether it is a large piece of vicissitudes of building stone or exquisite and complex handicrafts, it gives people a sense of historical vicissitudes.

Along the long and narrow streets, there are such Arab ornaments everywhere, such as copper plates and exquisite chandeliers. There are also gold and silver jewelry, crystal products, perfume bottles and essence.

Walking in such a street, I feel that my eyes are not enough.

I found a shop with good value, mainly selling Arabic-style copper ornaments, such as copper lamps and plates. It's also beautiful, with bright colors, beautiful patterns and delicate tassels, which makes us feel like we are back in the story of Arabian Nights.

Just like the domestic tourism market, there must be small models of terracotta warriors and horses in Anhui Street in Xi 'an, small models of the Great Wall and Temple of Heaven in Beijing, and many small models of pyramids here, but there are more kinds of models here. I have seen many models of cultural relics seen in Egyptian museums, such as the super-small Anubis, the statues of unknown people in museums, and even the imitation jars with Pharaoh's entrails. I don't know if anyone will buy it back. It always feels strange.

The tortuous history of Egypt for thousands of years has allowed many cultures to coexist, so there are both Arab-style buildings and ornaments, as well as imitation cultural relics of various ancient Egyptian civilizations.

There are also beautiful and colorful fabrics here, which remind people of the flying carpet in Arabian Nights. If you want to experience Arab culture, it is these noisy and inconspicuous alleys that are more vivid than mosques.

Noisy voices, dusty Arab men coming face to face, here satisfied my imagination of the Arab world, and the market in Arabian Nights should be like this.

I, running all the way, turned into an alley. The alley is not as messy as there are so many people outside, and the sun shines into the alley, which is quite lively. Although the building is a little old and without any decoration, the green Parthenocissus has brought a little vitality.

There are many cats in the market, wandering in the sun. This kitten looks at me curiously.

All kinds of scarves are also very nice.

But we just want to buy one thing, and that is papyrus painting. Papyrus is made of papyrus, or papyrus.

Papyrus is an aquatic plant, upright, hard and tall, growing in shallow water like reeds. Flowers are fan-shaped and grow at the top of the stem. Papyrus is native to China, southern Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor.

Papyrus is an important part of ancient Egyptian civilization. The writing carrier made of this grass by ancient Egyptians has been used by Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans and Arabs for 3000 years. It was not until the 8th century that papermaking in China spread to the Middle East that papyrus was replaced.

"Cyperus oil" is not the "paper" in the current concept, but a writing medium made of vegetable oil Cyperus oil after processing, which is similar to the concept of bamboo slips, but more complicated than the manufacturing process of bamboo slips.

Ancient Egyptians learned to make paper with papyrus very early. After weaving and bonding, papyrus can become very large. Among the papyrus unearthed in Egypt, the longest is over 50 meters. The ancient Egyptians painted their thoughts, work, life and religious activities on clay tablets, stone walls and pottery pieces, and then moved them to papyrus, which became papyrus paintings.

We saw a few papyrus paintings in the market, and finally decided on a shop that looked bigger and had more exquisite papyrus paintings. We chose two papyrus paintings, but the store refused to bargain, but it felt good, so we had to pay for them. I don't know if it's true or not. It is said that the real papyrus painting is very expensive and should be bought as a souvenir.

The picture below shows the trophy:

It is said that this reflects the starry sky of the ancient Egyptians.

Wedding scenes in ancient Egypt.

The mall also presented two friendships:

However, I would like to remind my friends who come to the khalili market that you have to bargain when buying things, and you can cut it by half.

After buying papyrus paintings, we are ready to go foraging, but according to the market environment, some people are afraid to eat here and have to go to KFC.

On the way to KFC, we crossed an alley, which should be a local market. The environment was as dirty as ever, but people kept greeting us in Chinese all the way. The locals are really enthusiastic.

In this alley, I saw a very beautiful Arab woman, wearing a black robe and holding a baby. Although she wore a black headscarf, she didn't wear a veil, so I was lucky enough to see her delicate face, fair skin, beautiful big eyes, straight nose and small mouth, which had both the exquisite facial features of westerners and the exquisite charm of orientals. This is really a carefully carved work by God. There is so much beauty in The Arabian Nights. The face under the black veil is still lovely, which adds a lot of color to this messy alley and adds a stunning stroke.

This building is really beautiful, but the environment is not satisfactory.

Exquisite carvings and strange shapes make people stop to look at them carefully. It's really beautiful.

I remember reading a travel book about Egypt, which said that unless you are a broad-minded person, it is difficult for you to like the city of Cairo. Indeed, we finally got out of the alley, but the noisy cars and disorderly traffic and pedestrians on the street made it difficult for people to feel relaxed and comfortable. Moreover, the social situation in Egypt is not very stable now, so although the old city of Cairo is full of Arab customs, it also tells us the decline of an ancient civilization.

Ahead is the Azhar Mosque.

When crossing these alleys, it happened to be around 3 pm, which was the time for Muslims to pray, and the voices calling for prayer sounded one after another in the city. For those of us who have no religious beliefs or are new to Cairo, it always sounds a little unaccustomed. But for local people, this is their spiritual home and a kind of sustenance.

The trip was in a hurry, and there were still many shops and streets that I didn't look at carefully. If there is an opportunity, I will make it up next time.

In Cairo, you must visit the Khan khalili market, just as foreigners visit our China, Beijing Qianmen Dashilan and Shanghai Chenghuang Temple.

Cairo, a megacity with a population of 0/70,000, traces of ancient Egyptian civilization only exist in Egyptian museums; Due to the long-term colonial influence, European architecture is competing with Arab architecture on the main streets of Cairo. The Khan khalili market, the core of the old city, is still a well-preserved Arab world.

I can be regarded as a "travel enthusiast", but I am really a "shopping blind". I went to Khan khalili solely for the purpose of seeing the original Arabian customs and increasing my life experience and knowledge accumulation.

Khan khalili Market is located in the old town of Cairo, opposite the ancient Azhar Mosque. This is an ancient market with Islamic style, consisting of thousands of individual shops, distributed in dozens of small streets.

Market history can be traced back to14th century. The word "Khan" comes from Persian, meaning "restaurant", and "khalili" is the name of the owner who built the hotel.

This used to be the graveyard of the Fatima royal family. /kloc-In the second half of the 4th century, khalili, a general of Mamluk dynasty with Sunni background, destroyed the cemetery of Shi 'ite Fatima dynasty and built Khan (Hotel) here. 15 1 1 year, Sultanguli demolished hotels and built warehouses and inns. After hundreds of years of evolution and development, it has become the most famous handicraft market in Egypt and even the Arab world, a symbol of Cairo's ancient culture and Islamic color, and one of the important tourist projects in Egypt.

Before entering the market, I saw the tall spire.

The famous Azhar Mosque and Hussein Mosque are next to Khan khalili Market, which brings a strong Islamic atmosphere to the market.

In the market near the entrance of Azhar Mosque, there is a row of distinctive cafes.

Café Fishavi, one of the cafes frequented by Nobel Prize in Literature winner Najib Mahfood, made this old street the pride of many Egyptians. Someone in Cairo said, "Cafe Fishavi is more representative of Cairo than the pyramids".

The narrow streets of the market are crowded with small shops, mainly selling gold and silver jewelry, copper coins, stone carvings, leather goods and other traditional Egyptian handicrafts, as well as small shops dealing in clothing, food and local products.

Khan khalili Market attracts the attention of foreign tourists because of its quaint storefronts and complete goods. Among the people who are mainly Arabs, there are many tourists from the west and the east.

In addition to its market function, the Khan khalili market, as a unique tourist resource in Egypt, is highly valued by the local government.

In Egypt, where terrorist activities are frequent, it is a major task for the local police to prevent terrorist incidents and ensure the personal safety of foreign tourists. Walking in the market, you will meet tourist policemen with walkie-talkies from time to time. Different from other scenic spots, the police here are better in quality and equipment, equipped with batons and spears, and many plainclothes policemen are mixed with tourists.

The residential buildings in the market are ancient and full of Arabic style. Looking closely at the dilapidated Muslim temples and shops on both sides of the market street, the gorgeous details occasionally revealed make you notice that there are precious marble on the wall behind the layers of dust, and exquisite carvings remain on the high windows, which makes people feel the rise and fall, history and ups and downs of ancient Cairo.

The doorplates of shops I happened to see in the market are also quite Arabic.

I'm looking for Khan. The market in khalili coincides with Friday afternoon, which is a day for Muslims to worship and an Egyptian public holiday. Many Arabs came to the market after worship in the afternoon, and the market streets were very crowded.

Mixed with the Arab crowd, I walked into a small street. The air here is mixed with pungent smell, only Arabic, shouts and music come and go, one alley after another. In my opinion, these small streets are exactly the same. You can go anywhere, but you are getting more and more confused, just like entering a maze. I can't help feeling a sense of fear. After walking a few alleys, I dare not "go deep" anymore, so I can only return from the original road.