重慶是一座故事之城
——專訪重慶威斯汀酒店總經理詩諾琳

□ 文/本刊記者 李靜

相隔八年，與中國的不解之緣

八月的重慶酷暑難熬，在解放碑威斯汀酒店的辦公室內，剛到任不久的總經理，詩諾琳女士正積極忙碌著酒店的開業籌備工作。見到記者到來，她才連忙放下工作，滿臉微笑地坐下與我們交談。

也許是曾經當過空姐的原因，詩諾琳舉止端莊、典雅，總是帶著親切的笑容，剛剛坐下，她便禁不住表達了對中國的喜愛。“早在2000年的時候我就來過中國北京，那時也是因為工作出差在這里待了2周左右，空閑的時候我便在北京城逛逛，探索這座城市。”通過游覽名勝古跡和人文景觀，以及與當地人接觸，詩諾琳被博大精深的中國文化深深吸引住了，也從那時起，她喜歡上了中國，心里默默想著，“如果有一天有機會，一定要來中國工作。”

這樣的心愿在八年后終于得以實現。2008年，詩諾琳被喜達屋酒店管理集團派到深圳福朋喜來登酒店擔任總經理，這也成為她職業生涯里第一次踏足中國。2011年，詩諾琳調動到廣州威斯汀酒店任總經理；2013年5月，她來到重慶，與這座城市結下了不解之緣。

詩諾琳是目前重慶五星級酒店中少有的外籍女性管理者之一，她表示，性別有時也是職業生涯中的一種優勢。“我自己是三個孩子的母親，在工作上我會投入更多的情感和人性化的因素在里面。”在詩諾琳看來，與員工溝通并不是一件很難的事，即使是與中國員工相處。每個月詩諾琳都會從每個部門抽取一名員工，不分職務大小，和他們共進午餐，以此了解員工的心聲和想法。“如果員工感受到自己是被尊重和關心的，那么他們也會更努力積極地工作，這樣的影響則是正面的，有利的。”

而最讓詩諾琳感動和驕傲的，是她的丈夫為了支持她對酒店事業的執著與愛好，放棄了自己在澳大利亞的工作，和她一起來到中國，來到重慶。對此，詩諾琳露出溫情的笑容，“我也做過全職太太，當我們的孩子都長大以后，我才開始發展我的事業。以前我一直都是跟隨我的先生，現在我們的角色對調了一下，一起來到中國，就像開始人生中的一段新的生活。”

穿梭于大街小巷，感受重慶文化

從深圳到廣州再到重慶，詩諾琳深深感受到了每座城市的不同，因為自己來自一個有著多元文化的移民國家，詩諾琳對中國的一切都充滿了好奇和興趣。在她看來，廣州是一個本土化的城市，而深圳則有更多的外來人口，重慶則是一座獨特的古樸與現代相結合的城市，“這座城市的本土味兒似乎更濃一點，更有自己的特色。”詩諾琳若有所思地回答，“重慶人特別喜歡自己的美食，重慶菜也非常好吃。”說到這里，詩諾琳便兩眼放光，迫不及待地與我們分享她在重慶吃火鍋的經歷，許多人都以為外國人不能吃辣，其實我們也會有一些帶辣的食物，詩諾琳表示自己吃火鍋都會選中辣，一點也不比當地人遜色，有時候午餐都會跑到附近的餐館吃麻辣串。而相比獨立一人一鍋的新式火鍋，詩諾琳更喜歡傳統的老火鍋，眾人圍坐一堂，一起燙菜的感覺很棒。

詩諾琳和她的丈夫都非常喜愛中國文化，喜歡在陌生的城市探索各種有趣的事物，尋訪那些滿載著歷史故事的人文景點。周末的時候，他們便步行去朝天門，或者穿行在七星崗附近的老街舊巷，感受本土的重慶風情。雖然來到重慶只有短短幾個月的時間，他們已經去過枇杷山、三峽博物館、瓷器口、北碚縉云山等等景點，足跡遍布重慶的大街小巷。詩諾琳對重慶的過去很感興趣，有時走到街上，看到以前的朝天門纜車標志，她會好奇地問重慶的同事，為什么以前需要這樣的交通工具，為什么現在又停用了？看到路上拿扁擔的“棒棒”（力哥），她也會好奇地問，為什么要叫“棒棒”，只有在重慶才有嗎？每天走在重慶的街上，詩諾琳都會發現重慶不同于其他城市的地方，也讓她對這座獨一無二的城市更加著迷。“重慶的發展迅速，每天都有故事發生，這里的綠化很漂亮，老街、新城、公園、山麓，我喜歡關注城市的變化，很慶幸，也很驕傲自己能成為城市中的一員，見證這樣從無到有，新舊更替的過程。”

空閑的時候，詩諾琳喜歡健身、讀書、聽聽舒緩的音樂，和家人相處，她崇尚健康的生活，每天六點起床，在健身房跑步，開始充滿活力的一天。

當提到對重慶的城市建議時，詩諾琳表示，希望當地政府可以更多地推動城市的旅游資源，更多地宣傳重慶。因為大部分想來中國旅游的外國游客，首先想到的城市一定是北京、上海、廣州，而重慶是一座有著豐富文化歷史，獨一無二的城市，她希望能提高重慶的知名度，讓更多的外國友人關注重慶，愛上重慶。

Chongqing，A City of Stories Interview with the General Manager of The Westin Chongqing Liberation Square

Eight Years ago, a Special Bond with China was Formed

On a hot summer day in Chongqing, Ms. Carolyn Smith,General Manager of The Westin Chongqing Liberation Square was busy in her office, making preparations for the hotel opening.

As a former flight attendant, Ms. Carolyn conducts herself in a dignified and elegant manner, always with a friendly smile. When we sat to talk, she expressed her excitement about China. “Back in year 2000, when I first came to Beijing on a two week business trip, I was able to explore the city. By visiting places of interest and communicating with local people, I was greatly attracted by the extensive Chinese culture.” Since then, she has had a crush on China and said to herself, “If, one day there are opportunities, I will come to China to work.”

She never expected that such a wish would be granted eight years later. In 2008, Ms. Carolyn was appointed as the General Manager of Four Points by Sheraton Shenzhen, her first assignment to work in China. In 2011, she was transferred to The Westin Guangzhou and in May, 2013 was given her present position in Chongqing, where she has formed a strong bond with the city.

Ms. Carolyn is one of a very few foreign women general managers in international five-star hotels in Chongqing. She said her gender has, at times, been an advantage in her career.“I am a mother of three children, so I put more emotion and humane factors into my work.” She never considers communicating with her employees difficult, even with Chinese workers. Every month, Ms. Carolyn invites one associate from each department to lunch, regardless of their working position, to better understand their feelings and ideas. “If associates feel they are respected and cared for,they will try to do a better job, an impact that is positive and beneficial for the hotel.”

What has moved Ms. Carolyn most is, her husband quit his job in Australia and moved to Chongqing to support her career. Ms. Carolyn told us, with a smile, “I had been a full time housewife before, when our children were growing up.When I began developing my career, I had always followed my husband with his career moves. Now, the roles are reversed a bit. We came to China together, just like starting a new life.”

Feeling the Culture of Chongqing by Walking the Streets

Moving from Shenzhen to Guangzhou to Chongqing,Ms. Carolyn has felt the differences in each city, because she is from a multicultural nation of immigrants. Ms. Carolyn is full of curiosity and interest in all of China. In her view,Guangzhou is a native city; Shenzhen is more open because of a more migrant population; while Chongqing is a unique city with a combination of tradition and modernization, “This city has more local taste. It has its own characteristics” Ms.Carolyn said, “Chongqing people especially like their cuisine. Chongqing food is also very delicious.” She can'twait to share her experience of eating hot pot in Chongqing with us, “Many people thought foreigners could not eat spicy food. Actually, we also have hot food in some of our dishes.” Ms. Carolyn told us that she always chooses medium spicy when eating hot pot, just like the locals.Sometimes she will even go to a restaurant near her work to have Ma La Tang. Ms. Carolyn prefers the traditional hot pot that people can sit around together, rather than an individual pot, which is amazing.

Ms. Carolyn and her husband are very fond of Chinese culture. They love to explore various interesting places in their new city, looking for stories full of historical meaning.On weekends they walk the old streets near Chao Tian Men or Qi Xing Gang to get a feeling for the Chongqing history and culture. Although they have only been in Chongqing for a few months, they have already been to Pipa Hill, the Three Gorges Museum, Ci Qi Kou and Jin Yun Mountain, so their footprints are all over the streets of Chongqing. Ms. Carolyn is interested in Chongqing's past. Once, during a walk, she noticed the sign for the old Chao Tian Men tramway and asked her colleagues, “Why did they need this kind of transport and why did they stop it?” When seeing some men with sticks carrying things on the street, she would ask, “Why do people call them Bang Bang and are they only in Chongqing?”Every day Ms. Carolyn will find something different about this city from other cities, which makes her more fascinated about this unique city.“Chongqing is developing so fast that lots of stories happen every day, the beautiful greenery, the old streets, the Metro, the parks. I like to see the urban changes. I'm glad and very proud to be part of it, to witness the replacement process of the old to the new.”

In her spare time, Ms. Carolyn likes to go to the gym,read, listen to soft music and spend time with her family. She advocates healthy living, waking every day at six o'clock and going to the gym to start her day dynamically.

When it comes to Chongqing City proposals for the future, Ms. Carolyn said that she hopes the local government can promote more of the city's tourist attractions, making Chongqing more well known. Now, most foreign tourists who want to come to China usually only think of Beijing,Shanghai and Guangzhou. But, Chongqing is a city with a rich cultural history. It is a unique city. She hopes to raise the profile of Chongqing, to let more foreign friends know about Chongqing and let them, too, fall in love with Chongqing.