On Jan. 14, the twin C07 and C08 office towers of the Central Business District (CBD) project in Egypt’s new administrative capital received a newlywed Egyptian couple as their first visitors in the new year. The husband, David, is an engineer of China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) Egypt, and this was he and his beautiful bride Mary’s first stop on their honeymoon trip.

This was Mary's second visit to the construction site. Last year on Qixi—China’s Valentine’s Day, she came here with her then-boyfriend David for a party hosted by the project team. The first visit to the CBD project had completely changed Mary’s notions of a construction site. She saw clean and tidy offices, a library full of books, a professionally equipped gym, and even a vibrant little garden. The whole site was like an oasis in the desert.

Mary said she did not approve of David joining the CBD project at first. She thought the new administrative capital was located far on the outskirts of Cairo, where the natural environment was harsh, and the working conditions would be challenging. Getting to work and back home would take David four hours every day, and Mary was afraid that they would have less time together.

David explained that he was fascinated about architecture, and his childhood dream was to have the opportunity to participate in great engineering projects and to become an excellent engineer. He said that the CBD project in Egypt’s new administrative capital is the most influential skyscrapers complex not only in the country but the entire North Africa region, and that working in the project would be a rare opportunity to grow his career. Mary reluctantly agreed at the time, but she believed that David would soon withdraw from the project.

To Mary’s surprise, David kept at it. Since he began working for the CBD project, he often talked with her about the daily work on the construction site. He told Mary that, as the contractor of the project, CSCEC was a very professional company in engineering construction, and that he had the opportunity to be apprentice to an experienced Chinese engineer who had engaged in construction management of many skyscraper projects and had taught him many professional skills. David also said that Chinese and Egyptian colleagues were sincere and friendly to each other, and they organized different sorts of interesting activities after work.

David's description and her first visit to the construction site convinced Mary that David had a real passion for the job. She said that she felt proud of what he was doing—shaping the future of Egypt.

After being together for five years, David and Mary married in January. To kick off the honeymoon trip, David took his wife to the construction site of the project again and took a photo with her in front of the twin office towers. For David, the towers were the perfect witness to his love for Mary. Just as the towers kept adding up to new heights every day, their love withstood all the difficulties and kept thriving to this day.

David and Mary made a promise that, when the towers are completed, they would come back again to take another photo, so that the towers could witness their enduring love for each other.