Although there are more and more high-end international hotels opening in Tianjin people still assume that the best of them must be based on the western style of luxury. This usually means that the person at the helm of the hotel is also a westerner. However, the General Manager of the Hyatt Regency, Tianjin East, Du Zhongxuan was originally from Xi'an. His experience in the industry is an inspiration for young people who are determined to reach the peak of careers in the hospitality industry.

Graduating from a Xi'an Foreign Studies University in the 1980's, Mr. Du started work as a tour guide for foreign tourists. In an era when the best hotels were only open to foreigners, Mr. Du had the opportunity to familiarize himself with them and the way they operate. He went to America for further study and after graduation, learned that the Hyatt Group was having a recruitment campaign at his university. Since he was familiar with hotels in China, he decided to take this opportunity.

As a non-native English speaker, he had to start at the bottom – in housekeeping, which required little language skills. As a migrant worker, he had to work better than the local people in order to keep his job and get promoted. It was not easy because hospitality was and still is, a popular industry in America. The competition in every sector was very intense.

"It was a long way from the bottom to the top" said Mr. Du. "There is no career shortcut in the hotel industry is what I always say to the young people." For Mr. Du, working in hotels means a lot of responsibility. He believes that the value of the general manager lies in performing well in difficult conditions. "One must have the experience of working in all the departments in a hotel before having the ability to manage it all and it takes a long time".

We were curious how he adapted to working with and his relationship with his western colleagues. Mr. Du said: "For five years, I was the only non-American in a hotel. I had no contact with any Asians at all." This was on an island resort in South Carolina where he was totally isolated from the outside world. This complete immersion in American culture changed him completely.

When asked about how much effort it took to stand out from his American colleagues, Mr. Du didn't tell us a moving story about his struggle. Instead, he had a common sense approach to his job. "There was only one shuttle bus that linked our island hotel and the town. My colleagues had to rush away at four in order to catch the bus. But I didn't have to worry about that because I lived in the hotel. So I could take my time to do my job better," said Mr. Du.

After being transferred back to his mother country, Mr. Du brought back a westernized management style. He thinks that the biggest difference in management between east and west is the relationship between the boss and the employees. "In the west, the higher the rank, the humbler one becomes." Like everybody else in the business, he is just a member of a big family. However, he must have the competence and wherewithal to earn dignity and the trust of his employees."

Mr. Du was confident about the new Hyatt Regency that will be unveiled soon. "Before I came to Tianjin, I've learned that Hyatt was the first international hotel brand established in Tianjin and local citizens all knew about us," said Mr. Du. His job is to continue the Hyatt's glorious history in Tianjin. The new hotel sits at the Wei Guo Dao in Hedong District. "I found that in China's big cities, traffic is the biggest headache. It's not a problem for our hotel," said Mr. Du. Although this is not a central area in Tianjin, the adjoining transportation hub means it is only a ten minute ride to the airport, a five minute ride to the train station and the downtown area is only ten minutes away.

These advantages of the location determined that the hotel will target more business travelers, conferences and banquets. "The banquet hall in the new Hyatt hotel is the best of all the Hyatt hotels I have managed. The foyer is almost half the size of the banquet hall so the guests have a wonderful chance to mingle and socialize," said Mr. Du.

Mr. Du hopes to enhance the awareness of excellent service among his employees by asking them to greet and smile at every guest in the hotel. He also wants to inspire the young people who seek a career in the hotel industry with his own story. As he says, "Nothing is impossible!"