Answer: Lots of people, apparently. This may seem counter-intuitive, given the fact that the majority of Egypt's population is deeply religious, but obviously the charms of alluring underwear are not lost on either gender.
How do I know?
Yesterday, I had the great pleasure to come by Peter Hessler's brand new piece in The New Yorker, entitled 'Learning to Speak Lingerie: Chinese merchants and the inroads of globalization'.
You have heard about Hessler, right?
The author truly has become a household name by now. After volunteering for the Peace Corps as a teacher for English and American literature in a small town in Sichuan province, Hessler subsequently served as The New Yorker's China correspondent from 2000 until 2007.
He has written three books about the country that won him a lot of critical acclaim and prestigious awards, not only in the US but also in China (a lengthy portrait - sorry, paywall - of the writer and his work by Ian Johnson appeared on May 7 in The New York Review of Books).
It is indeed highly unusual that works by foreign journalists are translated and published in the People's Republic. And it is even more uncommon that these texts find an enthusiastic Chinese audience.
Not long ago, there has been a fierce debate about Hessler's decision (and that of other US writers) to publish in mainland China and to this end to consent to some minor changes - a compromise that was interpreted by several colleagues (do I detect a hint of professional jealousy here?) as an unacceptable kowtow to official censorship (for his well-argued and extensive response to these accusations, see here).
Back to the article in question.
In 2011, Hessler moved to the Egyptian capital Cairo where he has lived since. In his reportage from the notoriously conservative Upper Egypt region, he traces the emergence of a whole bunch of small dealers who specialize in selling quite revealing and, some might think, outrageously sexy, lingerie.
On his tour, he also comes across the first plastic-recycling centre in the south that is run by an older Chinese couple, the parents of lingerie traders.
Another stop is at one of the countless economic and trade cooperation zones Chinese investors are so keen to establish all over the world. This one is marred by failure as local labour supply is scarce, culminating in the bizarre choice by the Chinese state-owned company that built the industrial zone to transform it partly into four crude amusement parks in the hope of attracting more visitors / suitable workers.
In his vivid report, the author sheds light on a seriously underestimated side of China's engagement in foreign countries: the important role of individual traders and small-scale private entrepreneurs who often pave the way for larger investments and migration streams. Generally, gigantic investment projects by state-controlled giants dominate the discourse about Chinese economic development ventures abroad.
The article is a small masterpiece in Hessler's trademark style of narrative journalism; the long text is really funny, eye-opening and perceptive.
I might not be inclined to follow all of Hessler's more general views or conclusions vis-à-vis China's trajectory, but I do admit without reservation: Chapeau, this guy can write!
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