“朝阳区国际化程度高，外国创业者不必担心文化冲击问题”—专访宾夕法尼亚大学北京校友会主席Loretta Evans

记者_周晓琪 编辑_胡是非 摄影_白舒元 设计_孙星

“朝阳区国际化程度高，外国创业者不必担心文化冲击问题”—专访宾夕法尼亚大学北京校友会主席Loretta Evans

记者_周晓琪 编辑_胡是非 摄影_白舒元 设计_孙星

在北京居住已有11年的宾大北京校友会主席Ms. Loretta Evans认为，朝阳区不仅地理位置好，而且国际化程度非常高。在她看来，这对于中国创业者和国外的创业者都是非常有吸引力的一大优势。

拎客

Loretta Evans

The current president of the Penn Club of Beijing. President Loretta was born in Philadelphia. She holds an ExMSE degree from the School of Engineering and Applied Science. After leaving Penn， she obtained a Doctor of Science degree in Engineering Management at The George Washington University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science in Washington， DC. In 2005，she moved to Beijing. She previously was Webmaster for the Penn Club of Beijing's website until Penn's Alumni Relations took over. Loretta currently has her own business， Cycletime China which focuses on consulting， software development and geophysical technical services.

A brief introduction of the Penn Club of Beijing

The Penn Club of Beijing operates based on by-laws enacted in 2009. In 1997， the Club was started by the previous president with a list of Beijing alumni provided from Penn. The Penn Club is one of the most active alumni associations in Beijing with typically several events each month for alumni. The Penn Club of Beijing currently has several high energy club officers and have meetings to plan out our schedule of evens and activities.

宾夕法尼亚大学（下文简称：宾大）沃顿中国中心位于北京市朝阳区环球金融中心。中心成立于2015年3月，创办初衷是为宾大教授、学生、在华校友和各界友人提供继续学习、研究资源和交流平台。近日，在宾大沃顿中国中心的办公区内，《留学》对宾大北京校友会主席Ms. Loretta Evans进行了专访，邀请她与我们分享了一个外国创业者在中国的经历和感悟。

Loretta毕业于宾大工程和应用科学系，后获得乔治·华盛顿大学工程管理和科学博士学位。2005年，Loretta来到北京，到现在已有11年了。谈到对北京这座城市的印象时，Loretta表示，自己非常喜欢这座城市，并且打算在北京长久居住下去，在这里继续发展自己的事业。“北京是一座很完美的城市，特别是我居住的朝阳区，不仅地理位置好，而且国际化程度非常高。我认为，这对于中国创业者和国外的创业者都是非常有吸引力的一大优势。”Loretta对《留学》记者说。

除了担任宾大北京校友会的主席，Loretta还拥有自己的公司，主要提供有关软件开发和地球物理技术相关的咨询与业务。很多国外创业者来到中国，首先担心的问题就是遇到文化冲击（Culture shock）。但当《留学》与Loretta探讨相关的话题时，Loretta却表现得乐观而从容。她认为，无论在哪里，创业者都要面临困难，有时甚至会陷入困境。这就像参与冒险游戏一样，不可避免。但是，创业者首先需要自己变得更强大，才能察觉到别人没有意识到的问题，从而走出困境。创业成功需要多方面的支持，包括抓住良好的机遇、在合适的地点和正确的人合作，当然还有勤奋地工作，等等。在Loretta看来，她所在的北京市朝阳区就是一片创业者的乐土。这里集中了众多高端的商业资源，还有来自朝阳区政府对海归人才和国外创业者提供的大力支持及援助。Loretta举出一个例子，“如果我邀请我的美国朋友来到朝阳区，他们不会感觉到太多文化冲击，因为这里有很多的国际化饭店，我们能品尝到美国菜、欧洲菜，当然还有北京菜。这让我的朋友觉得自己好像在家乡一样，距离感拉近很多。”

Loretta Evans不仅是宾大北京校友会主席，而且在中国有自己创办的公司。

“当我第一次听说OTEC时，就很想参与进来”

Loretta告诉《留学》，不忙的时候，她喜欢阅读，学习中文和结识新朋友。在中国多年，Loretta在逐渐适应中国生活的同时，感觉自己真的爱上了这里的一切。自信、开朗而富有激情的性格帮助Loretta结交了很多的中国朋友和商业伙伴，在需要时给予她帮助和建议，Loretta认为这也是她在中国开展事业的一大法宝。

Loretta不仅乐于结识中国朋友，也非常热衷于参与各种创业活动。记者了解到，Loretta的公司于去年参加了OTEC。Loretta表示，能参与OTEC是一种荣耀。通过这个高端平台，可以认识更多来自不同群体、组织的商业人才、优秀企业家，为彼此合作提供了机遇。“我和新认识的朋友会互相攀谈，询问彼此的生意近况。OTEC是一个非常新颖，有创新精神的活动。参与其中真的让我收获良多，让我的企业获益良多。”

Q=Studying Abroad

A=Loretta Evans

Q: In your opinion， what influence or effects did your business bring to China？

A: Well， we have brought foreign technology and foreign experts to China；this allows experts from different countries to solve problems together from different perspectives. For example， I will have my American business partner， Mr. Chuck Diggins， come to China and he is one of the top experts in Geophysics. In all， I think different people stand for different things， it is great.

Q: What suggestions would you like to give for those who wants to start business in China as a foreigner like you？

A: That is a good question. When you come to China to start a business， you have to be aware of a lot of things. I think you should realize that starting a business is hard， no matter where you are. Some people get lucky， some people have resources. But you still need to try to be smart. Doing business well often means getting opportunities， being in the right place， working hard as well as meeting the right people. You have to be strong because doing business is like an adventure sometimes. And you need to learn to adapt to the environment. That is very important when you want to do business in China.

Q: Do you like to live in Beijing？

A: Yes， I really do. I know Beijing and I like Beijing. This is a wonderful city. I always wanted to live in a city. But in America， cities are maybe expensive， even dangerous. The suburbs are quiet， very nice. But I always wanted to live in a city. There are so many things to do and it is big and safe. My mother and sister also came here many years ago. They all like China. They visited Suzhou before they came to Shanghai. Suzhou is cold when winter comes. When we visited in Sanya， we loved the beech， and the sunshine was wonderful. My mother loves all three. She loves Beijing so much. She was so happy and it was a great time.

（实习记者乔丽娟对此文亦有贡献）