Even taxi drivers know the name of this Turk
Print Edition
ABOUT 36 years ago, a young Turkish man came to Beijing to learn Chinese and then went to Wuhan University for his master’s degree, becoming the first Turk to get a master’s on China’s mainland.
He returned as a diplomat in Bejing in 1988 and was chosen to set up the Consulate General in Shanghai in 1996.
He has lived here ever since, performing in countless TV shows, after leaving the diplomatic service in 1999.
His name is Noyan Rona, one of the most famous Turks in Shanghai — even the taxi drivers know who he is.
“Maybe I have acted in too many TV series,” says the 62-year-old easy-going Rona, smiling like a kid on Christmas Eve.
Indeed, Rona has tried many interesting things during his years in China. He has played numerous roles in popular TV dramas and films after being invited to appear on TV.
One was ”Century Platform” (世纪平台) in 2003. He also did “Autumn Water and the Endless Sky” (秋水长天) in 2004 and “Female Dormitory” (女大学生宿舍) in 1984, which was “an influential film at that time,” according to Rona.
He also took part in the first Chinese knowledge competition for foreigners in 1992 by CCTV and won third prize, interpreted for former Turkish President Abdullah Gul when he met then Chinese President Hu Jintao in 2009 and volunteered in his community for many years.
“Our juweihui (community) and jiedao (subdistrict) have some activities,” Rona says excitedly. “Sometimes doing some volunteering work at senior houses or the blood center.”
Now, as chief representative for one of the biggest Turkish banks, Garantibank, in Shanghai for nearly two decades since leaving the diplomatic corps in 1999, Rona still tries hard to get up close to China. He got Magnolia Golden Award in 2005 and became Honorary Citizen of Shanghai in 2012.
“To be a banker, you have a lot of opportunities to be part of Shanghai’s local community,” he says. “It is a good opportunity for me to improve myself and improve my language and my understanding of China.”
Q: What brought you to Shanghai 20 years ago?
A: It was in 1996 when the Turkish government sent me here to establish the Consulate General. Back in the 1990s, Shanghai was not a very popular destination for foreigners. But I liked Shanghai. After three years working here, I started to work in one of the biggest Turkish banks in Shanghai. And I am still here.
Q: What is the biggest difference between when you came here first and now?
A: When I first arrived in Shanghai, you couldn’t hear Mandarin. People were always talking Shanghainese. And now when you go to the street, you can’t hear Shanghainese.
This is because more and more people from all over the world are coming to Shanghai. I can speak Shanghainese, too!
Q: You must have plenty of interesting stories about Shanghai!
A: I have many taxi stories. You may know that there are about 60,000 taxis in Shanghai, and I use taxis very often. Once I got a taxi, and I asked him to go back home, and then I told him which road he had to take.
But when I told him the address, he replied, “Mr Noyan, I know your address.”
And I said: “How do you know?”
He recognized me and told me he met me three years before. I had taken his taxi, and we were talking, and he knew where I came from, and what I do, where I live. After that, he also watched me on TV, and that was why he remembered me.
I felt very surprised, you know, there is a very small possibility that you can get into the same taxi in the city no matter how long you have stayed here.
Q: What do you like about Shanghai?
A: You have many choices for whatever you want. It provides everything that you need, shopping, eating, walking, everything. And recently, it’s sped up a lot. It is always developing, so every day something new comes up. It is very lively. You will feel you are getting younger and younger.
Q: Do you have any suggestions to make Shanghai a better city?
A: Shanghai’s hardware is very nice and advanced, if you compare it with other cities in the world, especially the big ones. But some places are dirty; some people don’t have the attention to make the city clean. Even in cars, they just throw out the garbage, paper or cigarette butts and everything, this is bad.
The other thing is social order. If more than one person needs something at the same time, you have to get in the line, right? But they don’t do it. This is not good.
And if you ask me one word that Shanghai lacks or needs to improve, I would say “respect” — respect each other; respect everyone, and you will get respect back. It happens everywhere.
In the theater, people always sit in other people’s seats, they don’t sit in their assigned seat.
Shanghai is every day receiving many people from outside, right? They find a job and they stay here. But how do you improve their culture? You have to create, keep and improve Shanghai culture, and don’t allow other people to destroy it.
Q: What are your best times here in China?
A: I have many impressive memories. I am the first Turkish citizen who got a master’s degree in China. I am also the first foreign student who earned a master’s at Wuhan University. I am also the yuanlao (the founding member) of the Turkish Consulate in Shanghai.
The other memory is about the Chinese knowledge competition. It was 1992 in Beijing, CCTV was organizing a Chinese knowledge competition among foreigners who lived in China.
At that time, I was working at the Embassy in Beijing. I applied for this competition, but everything was very complicated. After one month, they sent me some questionnaires. They asked me to answer them, and I sent it back when I finished.
After one month, they called me back. They asked me to take an exam. This exam was one-on-one. And after two months, they called me again. Altogether, 18 foreigners made to the final. It took me nearly 15 hours at the TV station to take the exam. It is very impressive, so tiring, but so unique for me.
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