Canton Tower?, a landmark in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, lit up on the evening of May 12 for the 2026 International Youth Poetry Festival (China-Arab Session).

Poets from China and Arab countries gathered on a cruise ship on the Pearl River, watching the tower glow against the night sky. They recited poems and shared heartfelt conversations, as two different languages and cultural traditions intertwined, forging bonds of friendship through the universal language of poetry.

Egyptian poet Mai Ashour recited Lin Huiyin's You Are the April of This World in both Chinese and Arabic. A graduate of Chinese studies from Cairo University, Ashour has never spent more than two months in China at a time but speaks fluent Chinese. Driven by her love of Chinese poetry and prose, she has translated essays by writers including Wang Guozhen, Bi Shumin and Feng Jicai into Arabic.

Syrian poet Mwaffaq Al Hajjar sang Arabic songs with fellow poets. He said the Pearl River reminded him of a river in his homeland, adding that whenever he visits a city with a river, "it brings me back to Syria".

Sudanese poet Sherihan Altayeb video-called her mother during the cruise. "Whenever I feel happy, I want to share it with my family."

Three years ago, civil war broke out in Sudan and upended her life. She decided to leave her homeland alone and begin life as an immigrant. In the years since, she has lived in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

Poetry, she said, has been her companion through loneliness and displacement. "Thanks to poetry, I am able to see a wider world and, it brought me to China."

The Pearl River cruise marked the final stop of the poetry festival's Guangdong province leg. During their stay in the province, Chinese and Arab poets experienced local traditions, visited technology companies and met university students for cultural exchanges. The group is set to travel next to Beijing, where they will recite poems atop the Great Wall.