In addition to members of conventional press in China, all Chinese communication professionals representing the technology-based new media world (web-news site, search engine, blog, video sharing sites, social media etc.) visited Turkey for the first time. On the first day of the program, Chinese representatives got the opportunity to closely observe everyday life of Turkish people around Taksim Square, Istiklal Street, and Galata Tower, and also discovered our ancient cultural heritage, mainly Topkapı Palace, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia Museum, and Basilica Cistern as part of the historical peninsula tour organized immediately afterwards. The guests also got the opportunity to closely see Turkey’s tremendous tourism potential in Dalaman-Fethiye-Köyceğiz and especially in Antalya, and went on a “Blue Cruise” along Aegean and Mediterranean coasts and did “Paragliding” in Fethiye.
The Chinese press members expressed that Istanbul is a much more fascinating city than they had expected, and that their opinions about Turkey drastically changed in favour of Turkey. Hou Jue who works at the major Chinese media outlet Beijing TV Station, stated the following: “I did not expect to have such a great experience before I visited Turkey.” Hou recorded videos and interviews in Fethiye and Istanbul, and shared these with millions of people through one of China’s biggest television channels Beijing TV, greatly contributing to Turkey’s publicity in China. Wu Yanjie, who works at one of China’s leading visual media platforms Pear Video, said, “I tried to keep my camera close to me during my stay in Turkey. There is a different lifestyle at every corner of this country. I took hundreds of videos and I can not wait to share them.”
Wu Yanjie who shared videos about Turkey which attracted great interest in China, said, “I have more work to do. My next task is to make special collages of Turkish dishes. I would not expect that Turkish cuisine would appeal to me so much as a Chinese.” Global Times representative Gao Lei described his time in Turkey as a “unique experience” and also discussed the socio-economic status of Turkey in his article he wrote on behalf of the organization. Gao marked in his article that Turkey is one of the best holiday destinations in the world, and pointed out that people with different cultures and lifestyles succeed to live together harmoniously. Gao stated that the country’s economy has developed particularly in the last 15 years thanks to the policies pursued, and that the per capita income has increased.
Yihua Hao participated in the event on behalf of Jiemian, a major Chinese media agency, and shared the photographs he took throughout the tour with his followers. After returning to his country, Yihua wrote a detailed review of Turkey, and published the article with the title Time Traveller’s Stop: Blue Turkey. In his article, Yihua featured Napoleon’s famous quote “If the world was a single country, the capital would be Istanbul” as well as his fascinating Istanbul and Fethiye photographs. Yihua emphasized that Istanbul has hosted great civilizations throughout history, and called it “a unique privilege” to have the Bosphorus that connects Asian and European continents. Liang Chen who visited Turkey as a Caixin Media representative, recorded the beauty of Fethiye from air with the videos taken by Drone. Liang said Fethiye is a rare opportunity for photographers, especially for sunrise and sunset photography, and shot wonderful images with the Drone camera he skilfully used. Our guests who shared their week long experience in Turkey in various media through videos, photographs, interviews and articles, have reached millions of people to date.
Yunus Emre Enstitüsü has a collaboration agreement with Shanghai International Studies University in China, and in this context, an academician assigned by the Enstitü in Turkey to the Turcology Department in the Faculty of Oriental Languages and Literatures of the university, teaches Turkish under the roof of the university, as well as carrying out activities to promote Turkey. The Enstitü also makes efforts to open a branch in Beijing in the near future.
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