The allure of coal, culture

There is a big white writing board in Tayeb Tahir's office, about 1 meter tall and 50 cm wide, hanging right beside his bookshelf. On the board are several Chinese characters with the Chinese pinyin and intonation, including Tan Dahai, his Chinese name.

"My Chinese colleague gave me that name. It means the big ocean," he said, stretching his arms and smiling. And he likes it very much, he said.

Tahir is president of Peabody China, a branch of the NYSE-listed Peabody Energy, the world's largest private-sector coal company that operates in 23 countries.