重庆是一座故事之城——专访重庆威斯汀酒店总经理诗诺琳

□ 文/本刊记者 李静

相隔八年，与中国的不解之缘

八月的重庆酷暑难熬，在解放碑威斯汀酒店的办公室内，刚到任不久的总经理，诗诺琳女士正积极忙碌着酒店的开业筹备工作。见到记者到来，她才连忙放下工作，满脸微笑地坐下与我们交谈。

也许是曾经当过空姐的原因，诗诺琳举止端庄、典雅，总是带着亲切的笑容，刚刚坐下，她便禁不住表达了对中国的喜爱。“早在2000年的时候我就来过中国北京，那时也是因为工作出差在这里待了2周左右，空闲的时候我便在北京城逛逛，探索这座城市。”通过游览名胜古迹和人文景观，以及与当地人接触，诗诺琳被博大精深的中国文化深深吸引住了，也从那时起，她喜欢上了中国，心里默默想着，“如果有一天有机会，一定要来中国工作。”

这样的心愿在八年后终于得以实现。2008年，诗诺琳被喜达屋酒店管理集团派到深圳福朋喜来登酒店担任总经理，这也成为她职业生涯里第一次踏足中国。2011年，诗诺琳调动到广州威斯汀酒店任总经理；2013年5月，她来到重庆，与这座城市结下了不解之缘。

诗诺琳是目前重庆五星级酒店中少有的外籍女性管理者之一，她表示，性别有时也是职业生涯中的一种优势。“我自己是三个孩子的母亲，在工作上我会投入更多的情感和人性化的因素在里面。”在诗诺琳看来，与员工沟通并不是一件很难的事，即使是与中国员工相处。每个月诗诺琳都会从每个部门抽取一名员工，不分职务大小，和他们共进午餐，以此了解员工的心声和想法。“如果员工感受到自己是被尊重和关心的，那么他们也会更努力积极地工作，这样的影响则是正面的，有利的。”

而最让诗诺琳感动和骄傲的，是她的丈夫为了支持她对酒店事业的执着与爱好，放弃了自己在澳大利亚的工作，和她一起来到中国，来到重庆。对此，诗诺琳露出温情的笑容，“我也做过全职太太，当我们的孩子都长大以后，我才开始发展我的事业。以前我一直都是跟随我的先生，现在我们的角色对调了一下，一起来到中国，就像开始人生中的一段新的生活。”

穿梭于大街小巷，感受重庆文化

从深圳到广州再到重庆，诗诺琳深深感受到了每座城市的不同，因为自己来自一个有着多元文化的移民国家，诗诺琳对中国的一切都充满了好奇和兴趣。在她看来，广州是一个本土化的城市，而深圳则有更多的外来人口，重庆则是一座独特的古朴与现代相结合的城市，“这座城市的本土味儿似乎更浓一点，更有自己的特色。”诗诺琳若有所思地回答，“重庆人特别喜欢自己的美食，重庆菜也非常好吃。”说到这里，诗诺琳便两眼放光，迫不及待地与我们分享她在重庆吃火锅的经历，许多人都以为外国人不能吃辣，其实我们也会有一些带辣的食物，诗诺琳表示自己吃火锅都会选中辣，一点也不比当地人逊色，有时候午餐都会跑到附近的餐馆吃麻辣串。而相比独立一人一锅的新式火锅，诗诺琳更喜欢传统的老火锅，众人围坐一堂，一起烫菜的感觉很棒。

诗诺琳和她的丈夫都非常喜爱中国文化，喜欢在陌生的城市探索各种有趣的事物，寻访那些满载着历史故事的人文景点。周末的时候，他们便步行去朝天门，或者穿行在七星岗附近的老街旧巷，感受本土的重庆风情。虽然来到重庆只有短短几个月的时间，他们已经去过枇杷山、三峡博物馆、瓷器口、北碚缙云山等等景点，足迹遍布重庆的大街小巷。诗诺琳对重庆的过去很感兴趣，有时走到街上，看到以前的朝天门缆车标志，她会好奇地问重庆的同事，为什么以前需要这样的交通工具，为什么现在又停用了？看到路上拿扁担的“棒棒”（力哥），她也会好奇地问，为什么要叫“棒棒”，只有在重庆才有吗？每天走在重庆的街上，诗诺琳都会发现重庆不同于其他城市的地方，也让她对这座独一无二的城市更加着迷。“重庆的发展迅速，每天都有故事发生，这里的绿化很漂亮，老街、新城、公园、山麓，我喜欢关注城市的变化，很庆幸，也很骄傲自己能成为城市中的一员，见证这样从无到有，新旧更替的过程。”

空闲的时候，诗诺琳喜欢健身、读书、听听舒缓的音乐，和家人相处，她崇尚健康的生活，每天六点起床，在健身房跑步，开始充满活力的一天。

当提到对重庆的城市建议时，诗诺琳表示，希望当地政府可以更多地推动城市的旅游资源，更多地宣传重庆。因为大部分想来中国旅游的外国游客，首先想到的城市一定是北京、上海、广州，而重庆是一座有着丰富文化历史，独一无二的城市，她希望能提高重庆的知名度，让更多的外国友人关注重庆，爱上重庆。

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.