Asian (East Asian to be exact, in contrast to Central Asian) is eye-attracting in Turkey, it is especially so in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, which is not a city for tourism. Rarely could you see any Asian in this metropolis, since even in Istanbul, Asian tourists are not quite common as those from Middle East and Europe. (But as a matter of fact, I met a girl from Taiwan, who majors in English and Turkish, on my first day in Bilkent Campus).
Because of my style of dressing, Turkish people usually regard me as Japanese at the first place. Well, after I greet them in Japanese and then tell them I am from China, they always happily simile on me, saying surprisingly, "wow, Chi!".
As far as I feel, they love China, or at least far away from disliking Chinese, since roughly speaking China is neither politically nor cultural offensive to Turkey, and China is a dynamic developing country, just like Turkey, to their mind.
Interestingly, they know China for sure, and even Hong Kong, but to the extent China is still rather mysterious to them. This is perhaps not difficult to understand, while in fact to many people in East Asia Turkey is probably also a country of myths, because the cultural, political, and socioeconomic linkage between this Eurasian country and East Asia is not as strong as the relationship between Turkey and Western countries, at least status quo.
This is why they are interested in me, and quite often look at me curiously, since the very fact is -- I am a real Chinese in Ankara talking with them in simple Turkish (Merhaba?), and laugh with them wholeheartedly.
One of our common topics, of course, is Chinese Kung Fu. Well, they know Jackie Chan. Food, culture, or even Chinese girls are some of our typical topics (Turkish boys love talking about girls, especially with Abi, that is, brother). A difficult question which embarrass me so much is--Do you have any Turkish girl friend? The official response is, I love Galatasaray, a famous football team from Istanbul.
People in Ankara are helpful and kind, passionate and easy-going. We are pleased to greet each other, exchange contact, usually Facebook, even though I may be just one of the strangers on the bus. As I said, Ankara is not a tourist city, it may be a political one (and in fact it is), but definitely not a commercial city in which people earn a living through tourism. In their eyes, I am thus not a tourist from who they could make money, but a friend from Mysterious China, the Far East. People in Ankara are the real Turkish with full of enthusiasm and friendliness.
I love Turkey, and of course the real Turkish people I met up to now. But perhaps, one of the important reasons why I have received so many favorable treatments is because I am a guy, a boy, but not a girl. More about gender inequality, see you next time.
