Serving up happiness: Indian bellhop loves life in Beijing

By Wang Ru (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-17 10:26

Mohammed Ismain, a bellhop at the Presidential Plaza Hotel, helps a guest out of the car yesterday. [China Daily/Feng Yongbin]

Every morning at 7:30, 41-year-old Mohammed Ismain wakes up in a west Beijing hotel room, slips into a tidy red coat sparkling with gold buttons and carefully wraps his head in a 6-m-long red turban.

The Bombay-born Ismain is not a merchant or a Bollywood actor, though he does perform Indian dances and songs during the traditional Chinese Spring Festival. He is, in fact, a hardworking and happy bellhop in love with the city of Beijing.

"I enjoy living in the city," said the English-speaking Ismain, who has traveled to many Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing and Dalian, but prefers Beijing.

"It's a city without any problems," he said.

He came to the capital 12 years ago and has worked for the Presidential Plaza Hotel on Fuchengmen Street for the past 10. Born to a working class family in Bombay in 1968, he worked as a driver in a local factory after graduating from high school. There are many Chinese in his home town providing him the opportunity to sample the myriad Chinese restaurants dotting Bombay's busy streets.

"I often wondered how a country [such as China] could produce such delicious food," said Ismain, who relishes the Chongqing hotpot and Xinjiang mutton kebab.

In 1997, Ismain's elder brother, who worked at the Kuwait Embassy in Beijing, landed him a job as a driver for the Embassy of United Arab Emirates in the capital. IN 200, he began working as a bellhop at the five-star hotel catering to foreigners.

He said he is content with his monthly salary of $1,000 and he earns about 600 yuan ($88) in tips. The hotel provides him a room and annual return flights for a one-month stay with his wife and two daughters in Bombay.

A devoted Muslim, Ismain prays every Friday at the Niujie Mosque. He often spends his Sunday lunches with Indian and Chinese friends. Every night after work, he catches CCTV-9 (China's Central Television station) to keep abreast of news about China and Beijing.

Last August in Beijing, Ismain attended the Olympic air rifle shooting competition at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall, cheering for fellow Indian Abhinav Bindra, who won the first-ever gold in the Olympic Games for India.

"It was fantastic to witness that great moment," he said.

India's bellhops have traditionally been known as hardworking, careful and blessed with good manners, says Juliet Zhang, director of marketing and media at the Presidential Plaza Hotel.

"Ismain is a good asset for us," she said. "He is here for attracting Chinese guests. We hired him because he is really excellent at this job.

"Ismain always checks the seats after the guest exits the taxi, reminding them to take their belongings," say Guan Feng, a Chinese bellhop who has worked with Ismain for over six years at the hotel.

"He can almost remember the names of every guest and our old clients treat him like an old friend," says Zhang Yunfeng, another bellhop at the hotel. "He magically makes every guest feel at home."

Ismain replied: "That's because the city makes me feel at home."