LUXOR, Egypt—Visiting the complex of ancient temples at Karnak, Chinese tourist Ye Sanshi lost his way among the stone chapels, pylons and pillars. An Egyptian guide gave him directions. To show his gratitude, Mr. Ye handed him a small red tin the diameter of a large coin.

Inside was a cooling mentholated balm that has become a currency for Chinese traveling in Egypt. Mr. Ye brought 50 tins with him on his six-day tour to hand out as tips.

“Before I came to Egypt, the tourism agency told me repeatedly to bring cooling balm as a gift to make the trip easier,” said Mr. Ye, a 25-year-old whose family sells Chinese medicine online. Egyptians, he said, “are very nice to Chinese tourists, and they love this little gift.”

“Chinese tourists like to give this to me, but I really do not know why,” said Younes Mohamed, 34, a cleaner at Serenity Beach resort in Hurghada, on the Red Sea coast. He rubs the balm on his temples sometimes for headaches but otherwise doesn’t know what to do with it.

“I get a double handful of these on a daily basis,” he said, “most of which I gave to my friends and relatives.”