NANJING, April 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Robert Daly is quite popular among
the average Chinese, not just as an American speaking perfect
Chinese, but more as "David", a U.S. factory owner in a TV play he
starred in the early 1990s.
   A lover of Chinese culture, Daly started to learn Chinese at
college and later received a one-year advanced Chinese program in
Taiwan. He served as second secretary for cultural affairs at the
U.S. Embassy to China from 1987 to 1991.
   In 1991, Daly quit his job as a diplomat and started to teach
Chinese at Cornell University -- not for long because he was
shortly invited to play a major role in "A Beijinger in New York",
a 40-episode TV play shot in New York in 1992.
   The amateur actor was such a success that even today, most
Chinese can recognize him at first sight, though they like to call
him "David" without taking the trouble to find out his real name.
   Daly's fluent Chinese, persistent love of Chinese culture and
high popularity all qualified him to be a "cultural ambassador".
   Last September, he was appointed by Johns Hopkins University as
the ninth American co-director at the Center for Chinese and
American Studies, for a term of three years.
   He described the last six months as a "honeymoon" period in his
new position. "I'm on good terms with my Chinese colleagues," he
said happily. 
   Established in 1986 by Johns Hopkins and China's Nanjing
University, the Nanjing-based center is the first Sino-U.S.
education and research institute.
   Courses offered by the Nanjing-Hopkins center are all tailored
to meet the requirements of both sides and include U.S. history,
Sino-U.S. relations, global and U.S. politics, the U.S. legal
system, China's cultural revolution, Mao Zedong and the Chinese
revolution, social issues in China's modernization drive and China
's economy.
   Daly said cultural and academic exchanges were an important
component of Sino-U.S. relations to which the Nanjing-Hopkins
Center has contributed greatly. "Many U.S. diplomats, journalists
and business representatives in China have studied at the Center,"
he said.
   Though many universities and research institutes have set up
their own centers for Sino-foreign exchanges over the past 15
years, Daly believes the Nanjing-Hopkins center is the best in
terms of teaching facilities, academic environment and
achievements.
   Even former U.S. President George Bush once said the honorary
doctoral degree conferred to him by the Center in 1998 is one of
the two most significant in his life, and the other was from his
alma mater Yale, Daly recalled proudly.
   Daly could not conceal his pride and happiness as he talked
about his wife, a native Beijinger, their two sons, and a third
baby soon to come.  Enditem