"Living and working in China for almost 10 years make me deeply fall in love with the country and people," Mohiuddin Taher, a Bangladeshi journalist, told Xinhua in Dhaka recently in an exclusive interview.

Taher worked in China Radio International (CRI) from 1997 to 2006 as a Bangla expert.

Taher, who can speak fluent Chinese, said he knew a lot about China in childhood and dreamed of visiting the great country after growing up.

"My dream had come true after CRI employed me to work for them, " he said.

"I was so excited when I got to know the news of employment," he added.

Taher was the only Bangla expert when he worked for CRI in 1997. At the beginning he was responsible for correcting the Bangla stories.

Taher proposed to CRI to start a program called Understanding China for 5 minutes a week which received strong response from the audience.

Taher then proposed to launch a talkshow program called From Beijing. In the program, he interviewed the foreigners living in China, asking them to tell their experiences in Beijing. The program also got great success.

At the suggestion of Taher, CRI opened several other programs, like Learning Chinese Class, Listeners' Evening, Listeners' Letter Box and Strolling in the Forest of History, all received good response from the audience.

Taher said he received 20,000 to 30,000 letters from the audience and a great amount of fax, telephone calls and e-mails during his 10 years of work in China.

With the encouragement and appreciation from the audience, Taher started to love his work in CRI and tried his best to produce more and good programs for the audience.

Besides working for CRI, Taher had taken part in many social activities. He was awarded the third prize in the Competition of Foreigners Singing Chinese Songs organized by BTV station.

Taher played the role of Tagore, the Indian Nobel Prize laureate, in a TV drama.

Taher participated many programs in different TV stations in China.

The highest award Taher got is Friendship Award by the Chinese government in 2003 which was unexpected to him.

"It was a surprise to me. It proved my work was recognized by the Chinese government," he said.

Taher enjoyed his life in China. He always remembers his friends, his work, his colleagues and his colorful life in China even after 3 years of coming back to Bangladesh.

Taher said China is the safest country in the world. "When I was in China, I never felt afraid and insecure and had nothing to worry about," he said.

Taher said, "The colleagues were very nice to me, the Chinese people were very friendly to me wherever I went."

"Hongkong's return to China, Macao's return to China, China successfully got the rights to host Olympic Games in 2008 and World Exposition in 2010, China joined World Trade Organization, all these are what I experienced during my stay in China," Taher said.

Taher said China is changing on daily basis. "When I arrived in China in 1997, there were only about 60 flyovers in Beijing, the number was around 300 before I left in 2006," he said.

"Few families could afford a private car in 1997, but in 2006, many families had their own cars," he added.

Taher said China has developed very fast. "Everyone in the world feels surprised at the development of China," he said.

Taher felt grateful for CRI to give him the chance to live and work in China for 10 years. "It was the best time in my life. I saw more, learned more and got more in China. The experience in China greatly enriched my life.

"I love China. I love the Chinese people. I want to go back again," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2009)