China News Agency, Chongqing, March 13th, title: Turks have been in China for 12 years: to be the propaganda promoter of "two hometowns"
China News Agency reporter Zhong Yan
For Aykut Yazirli, a 35-year-old Turk, Turkey is his first home and China, where he has lived for 12 years, is his second.
20 days ago, he officially became a "Chongqing son-in-law".
In an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Agency in Chongqing recently, Li Kaiwen said that his daily life in China is to be a propaganda and promoter of the "two hometowns" and strive to become a bridge for exchanges between Turkey and China.
Li Kaiwen became attached to China in 2010. Because of his ability to listen and speak Chinese, he was dispatched by a motorcycle factory in Turkey and engaged in foreign trade in Guangzhou and Chongqing successively.
Since 2013, his business has been basically fixed in Shancheng.
In order to "go further" in Chinese, in 2015, Li Kaiwen enrolled in Chongqing University, majoring in Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages, and studied systematic courses.
Currently, Li Kaiwen is working at the Chongqing Asian-American-European Cultural Exchange and Development Center.
The center has "overseas liaison offices" in 11 countries around the world, and is committed to promoting diverse exchanges and cooperation between China and overseas governments, universities and research institutes, and enterprises.
As the head of the Turkish sector, Li Kaiwen's main task is to "strengthen the information exchange between Turkey and China, seek cooperation opportunities for both markets, and promote win-win results".
"Good communication is an important prerequisite for developing exchanges." Li Kaiwen emphasized that exchanges must not be one-way output, but two-way communication is conducive to international development.
In recent years, due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, although the offline group interaction has temporarily dropped sharply, online promotion is still frequent.
On Chinese social platforms, Li Kaiwen and his colleagues often record videos and open live broadcasts to popularize Turkey's socioeconomic and human geography knowledge to the Chinese people.
Through the Turkish Internet, Li Kaiwen skillfully demonstrated the colorful life of China to the villagers. Traditional culture such as dragon dancing, guessing lantern riddles, writing calligraphy, Chinese food dumplings, hot pot noodles are all promotional materials for his happy life in China. .
In Li Kaiwen's view, Turkey and China have many similarities: thousands of years of splendid civilization, a certain level of agriculture, and similar humanistic customs.
Turkey is one of the world's leading exporters of hazelnuts, figs, almonds and other dried fruits.
At present, one of his important tasks is to "introduce" more high-quality products from his hometown to China, "just like Chinese dragon fruit and wolfberry are on the table of the Turks."
The many differences between the "two hometowns" also made Li Kaiwen see the broad prospects behind the "complementary".
For example, more than half of Turkey's marble is exported to China, and China's industrial products are also what Turkey desires.
In order to better understand the needs of the two sides, Li Kaiwen spends a lot of time every day studying the news and information of the two countries to gain insight into which areas have room for expansion.
"China is so big, I hope that foreigners living here can use their own characteristics to do different and good things, and build this family together." Li Kaiwen said that to be a good promoter, we must first establish a "personal identity". The image represents the consciousness of the country's image", and on the road of "building a bridge", "the interpersonal relationship of friendship and unity will become better and better, and the exchanges between countries will become better and better."
Talking about his busy career and future expectations, Li Kaiwen said: "I am happy to be able to do what I can for my hometown." As a witness of China's development, he imagined that China's square dance, various cooking methods, and convenient Mobile payment, "copy" back to Turkey one by one, makes the life of the villagers happier.
He also plans to write an autobiography to record his experiences in Turkey and China. After the book is published, he will promote the family's "philanthropic and charitable" quality and donate the proceeds to the poor.
Starting from a village with a population of 1,500 by the Aegean Sea in Turkey, heading east to work, study and get married in China... Li Kaiwen's "dream" has been gradually realized.
He told reporters that there is a grander dream that needs to be fulfilled by himself for the rest of his life - the name "Li Kaiwen" is branded in the history of civil exchanges between soil and China.
(over)