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    Foreign Students in China: Turkish Student Ekrem Demirkale

    Written by: Zhang Danhua
    Posted on: November 22, 2018 | | 中文

    Bai Zhenguo

    After graduating from high school, Ekrem Demirkale (Chinese name: Bai Zhenguo), a young man from Turkey, was encouraged by his father to study at the Northwestern University in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. On July 12th, 2015, Ekrem set out on a 51-day tour from Xi'an, and traveled nearly 30,000 kilometers in seven provinces and regions, including Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai, Gansu, Xinjiang and Guangxi. Ekrem recorded many interesting stories on the journey with his camera and pen, and later he collected the stories and published them in his book “51 Days Journey in China: A Turk’s Cultural Experience in Western China.” The young Turkish man loves photography and has also passed the HSK-6 examination, the highest level of the Chinese language exam for foreigners. In his journey, he was surprised to find that many ethnic groups in China have their own languages, and that the local governments also generally stipulate that the names of public buildings, such as railway stations, must be labeled in both mandarin and local ethnic languages. "I find that the Chinese government is actually very inclusive of ethnic minorities,” Ekrem said.

    Foreign Students in China: Turkish Student Ekrem Demirkale

    Bai Zhenguo

    One day, Ekrem heard a popular folk song about Beihai (The North Sea), and decided to pay a visit to the place. He came to the Weizhou Island in Beihai city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. "The local people spoke a dialect which I could not understand. There was only one bank on the island, and I could not use my bank card to withdraw money from it. When the locals saw that I really needed help, they sent me food and offered me money for my return ticket. I was very touched by the hospitality of the islanders. And now, we still send greetings to each other on holidays,” he recalled.

    "The Northwestern University has established the Silk Road Research Institute and the Central Asia College for systematic studies on the Silk Road, and now they are building a think-tank to carry out international education cooperation with countries along the Silk Road." Guo Lihong, president of the Northwestern University, said that the university’s Central Asia College trains more than 300 overseas students from countries along the Silk Road annually, which account for over 60% of the total number of its overseas students.

    Foreign Students in China: Turkish Student Ekrem Demirkale

    Bai Zhenguo pointing out his hometown on the map

    In October 2017, Ekrem's younger sister followed his footsteps to Northwestern University. She planned to learn Chinese for a year before choosing her major. Ekrem gave her a Chinese name: “Bai Luyuan,” which is also the name of a famous Chinese novel, literally translated as White Deer Plain. Ekrem explained that in the Turkish culture, place names can also be used as people’s names. In Turkish, "white" represents peace and purity, and "deer" represents gentleness, so the meanings of the two characters are very beautiful. Ekrem said with a smile that a Chinese friend had known him for five years and still could not remember his Chinese name, but could always blurt out "Bai Luyuan" every time he saw his sister.

    In Beijing and Xi'an, Bai Luyuan took the high speed rail and the subway, and tried to pay for shopping with her mobile phone with the help of a friend. She told her brother joyfully, “It is amazing! Even many developed countries in Europe do not have this technology. This is what many Turks do not know about China."

    When recalling the decision made at the beginning, Ekrem felt that there seemed to be a kind of light leading him to China. "When I graduated from high school, most of my classmates chose to study in Europe and U.S. and only I chose to study in China. Many people asked me: ‘Why do you want to study in China, a country you know nothing about?’ My answer was that it was because I did not understand her that I longed for learning about this mysterious country. The more I know about her, the more I want to be close to her.”

    After coming to Xi'an, the young man found that many Chinese people knew that Turkey has hot air balloons, but did not know that the Aegean Sea can also be seen in Turkey. "It is necessary for China and Turkey to carry out cultural exchanges." When he was a freshman, he began sharing the history, culture and food of Turkey with his class, and also played documentaries about Turkey for his classmates. “After four years, my classmates all became experts on Turkey!”

    Foreign Students in China: Turkish Student Ekrem Demirkale

    Bai Zhenguo

    In 2017, after graduating from the Journalism School of Northwestern University, with a major in advertising, Ekrem chose to pursue his master’s degree in drama, film and television at the Arts School. For his future plans, he hopes to continue his PhD studies in China. "If we have good projects, the Chinese government will support us in starting a business. This is a really good policy.” He said that his greatest wish for this year is to establish a China-Turkey Cultural Association in Xi'an, to use film, literature and other means to promote Turkish culture in China, and vice versa.

     Translated by Xu Donglin


    As the new year begins, let us also start anew. I’m delighted to extend, on behalf of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and in my own name, new year’s greeting and sincere wishes to YOULIN magazine’s staff and readers.

    Only in hard times can courage and perseverance be manifested. Only with courage can we live to the fullest. 2020 was an extraordinary year. Confronted by the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Pakistan supported each other and took on the challenge in solidarity. The ironclad China-Pakistan friendship grew stronger as time went by. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects advanced steadily in difficult times, become a standard-bearer project of the Belt and Road Initiative in balancing pandemic prevention and project achievement. The handling capacity of the Gwadar Port has continued to rise and Afghanistan transit trade through the port has officially been launched. The Karakoram Highway Phase II upgrade project is fully open to traffic. The Lahore Orange Line project has been put into operation. The construction of Matiari-Lahore HVDC project was fully completed. A batch of green and clean energy projects, such as the Kohala and Azad Pattan hydropower plants have been substantially promoted. Development agreement for the Rashakai SEZ has been signed. The China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future has become closer and closer.

    Reviewing the past and looking to the future, we are confident to write a brilliant new chapter. The year 2021 is the 100th birthday of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. The 100-year journey of CPC surges forward with great momentum and China-Pakistan relationship has flourished in the past 70 years. Standing at a new historic point, China is willing to work together with Pakistan to further implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, connect the CPEC cooperation with the vision of the “Naya Pakistan”, promote the long-term development of the China-Pakistan All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership with love, dedication and commitment. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan said, “We are going through fire. The sunshine has yet to come.” Yes, Pakistan’s best days are ahead, China will stand with Pakistan firmly all the way.

    YOULIN magazine is dedicated to promoting cultural exchanges between China and Pakistan and is a window for Pakistani friends to learn about China, especially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is hoped that with the joint efforts of China and Pakistan, YOULIN can listen more to the voices of readers in China and Pakistan, better play its role as a bridge to promote more effectively people-to-people bond.

    Last but not least, I would like to wish all the staff and readers of YOULIN a warm and prosper year in 2021.

    Nong Rong Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
    The People’s Republic of China to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
    January 2021