Visitors watch a traditional Chinese cultural performance at the Capital Museum in Beijing on June 14, 2008. [Photo: Xinhua]

A promotion campaign of traditional Chinese culture kicked off across China on Saturday, the third National Cultural Heritage Day.

The campaign in Beijing is part of the promotional campaign for the upcoming Summer Olympics. A variety of activities, including exhibitions, performances and lectures, will be held around the city in parks, museums, libraries and former residences of celebrities. Entrance to some museums and cultural sites will be free of charge.

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Ha Yiqi, a kite maker, shows onlookers one of his creations at the Capital Museum in Beijing on June 14, 2008. [Photo: Xinhua]

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Folk artists prepare for a show in the eastern city of Hangzhou on June 14, 2008. [Photo: Xinhua]

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Folk artists put on a show in the northern city of Shijiangzhuang on June 14, 2008. [Photo: Xinhua]

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Folk artists put on a show in the northern city of Shijiangzhuang on June 14, 2008. [Photo: Xinhua]

　　

]]> 2008-06-16 11:00:42 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/citylife/2008-06/16/content_6763237.htm

There is probably no better a word than "exciting" to sum up how Bill Marriott felt about his most recent visit to China late last September.

The 76-year-old chairman and CEO of Marriott International (Marriott), a global lodging company with a history as long as 81 years, is also the son of J. Willard Marriott, the company's founder.

Marriot visited China especially to celebrate the completion of Marriott's 3,000th hotel, the 588-room JW Marriott Hotel Beijing in the capital's newest luxury property complex - China Central Place - which opened last November.

"I have been very impressed with the city's drive, energy and focus as it prepares for the Olympic Games. We are thrilled to be part of these exciting times for China and Beijing, and look forward to doing our part to help host a historic and memorable experience for all of our guests," said Marriott during his speech in the ceremony.

There is little doubt that nearly 20 years ago, when Marriott made its first foray into the nation, the group's chairman would never have expected that firstly such a remarkable event would happen in China and secondly that China would and will continue to have such a significant role in the company's corporate development strategy.

Back in 1927, J. Willard Marriott and his partner Hugh Colton opened their A&W root beer stand in Washington. In 1957 the business expanded into a lodging portfolio when the motor hotel - Twin Bridges - opened in Virginia, signaling the beginning of the group's hotel business.

For many years, "the corporate focus was on North America, due to the opportunities for growth in the United States," says Geoff Garside, executive vice-president of Marriott Asia-Pacific, who joined Marriott in 1977 and is now in charge of business in Asia and Australia.

"It was not until the 1980s that we began to look at internationally."

And the first destination abroad was China. In 1989, Marriott opened its first Chinese hotel, the JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong, which was also its first hotel in Asia.

Garside was then transferred from general manager (GM) of JW Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles to GM of the first China hotel, and his career has since been closely connected to the world's most populous nation and fastest growing economy.

What attracted Marriott to HK at that time was "the cheap labor costs", but the reason Marriott did not choose Chinese mainland to invest in which has a lower labor cost than Hong Kong lied in the immaturity of the local hospitality market.

Mainland business

Since1978 HK-based Peninsula Hotels moved to the mainland. In April 1982 Beijing Jian'guo Hotel, the first foreign hotel group entered the mainland market. The company was followed by other international groups. However, the local hospitality industry during the 1980s and the early 1990s was still in its infancy as a result of the slackened tourism market.

It was Hong Kong, especially in the 1990s, that set quality standard for the global hotel business. Usually "many executives from the US and Europe quickly flew back to HK and stay there after having handling business in the mainland," Garside recalls.

The Marriott HK hotel has a unique policy. It was the only one of its kind to conduct a two-day-off system for all associates, not only for managers, and was also one of the few that provided the associates a non-hierarchy environment where they could call each other, and even their bosses, by their first name, and encouraged them to make decisions on how to best serve guests.

It was not until 1995 that Marriott decided to crack the mainland market by opening Shenyang Marriott Hotel in Northeast China's Liaoning province, the first five-star hotel in the provincial capital. Two years later, it signed a package of hotel properties, seven in total, including Courtyard by Marriott Beijing, Courtyard by Marriott Shunde and The China Hotel, Guangzhou.

Stimulated by the stronger local economy and the booming tourism market, in the past 13 years, Marriott's portfolio in China has grown quickly, covering more than 30 hotels offering 11,547 rooms representing its six major brands.

And the group's local expansion strategy has been consistent, setting sight on "the gateway cities," says Garside.

China is becoming a strategically significant market for Marriott since its entry in the World Trade Organization in 2001. During the past few years, China has "held the first position around Asia by contributing more than 40 percent of Asian sales revenue for Marriott."

And the momentum is set to continue. In the next three years, "there will be an additional 100 hotels in Asia coming out, 40 percent of which will be located in China," says Garside.

"And the other 40 percent will be in India, and the rest goes to the other parts of Asia. China and India will be the largest two."

Talent-oriented strategy

But an undeniable truth is that Marriot were slow entering China mainland, about 17 years after the first international entered the local market.

Besides the Peninsula, in the 1980s, some, if not many, international hotel groups have successively shown up. Following the Peninsula were the United Kingdom-based International Hotels Group (IHG) and HK-based Shangri-La in 1984, French Accor and the US-based Sheraton in 1985 and the Hilton in 1988.

And Marriott's expansion rate is not striking either. IHG said it will open 125 hotels in China by 2008; Accor plans to obtain a portfolio of 180 properties around China by 2010.

But these do not cast any shadow on the fairly high brand awareness and recognition among the local guests, which Marriott hotel business in China is heavily relying on.

"The occupancy rate of Marriott hotels in China averages at 70 to 80 percent," says Garside.

Sites are one of the key concerns for the group and Marriott seems very careful in choosing properties.

The exterior appearance of almost all Marriott hotel buildings is nothing short of eyeball-catching. Besides the newly established twin hotels in China Central Place, The JW Marriott Hotel Beijing and the 305-room The Ritz-Carlton, Beijing, the 369-room JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai which opened in 2003 is located in the city's most bustling commercial district, Nanjing Road, and has won many awards for its design; Marriott China Hotel, Guangzhou is one of the first slew of five-star hotels in the southern city, settling down opposite the major exhibition hall of the bi-annual Canton Fair.

But the more impressive side to Marriott is its quality service, a more important factor in the operation of hotel businesses.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotels, the most luxury hotel brand worldwide acquired by Marriott in 1998, sets a shining example in the global industry for the service motto it claims - "We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen." And The Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai has won the reward of "the best employer in Asia" from Hewitt Associates, the global consulting company for consecutive three years since 2001.

Marriott itself has also been keen in "paying attention to details" since the first day of its business. "Success is never final" is an expression its founder had been fond.

Talents are the driving force behind. J. Willard Marriott, it was once frequently said, "People - their development, loyalty, interest and team spirit - are number one".

There are over twenty different training programs for managers and associates to choose from for outstanding hotel performance and personal growth. Marriott is one of the few hotel management companies that require hotels to contribute a minimum of $750 a year in professional development for all managers. In addition, 15 minutes per day is committed to training all associates per the management contracts of the property.

"We are lucky as there are only two chairmen in the Marriott's history, and they share the same philosophy (on management)," says Garside.

To make sure its philosophy is well conducted around China, Marriott is very selective in choosing partners. And the most required principle in the negotiation is that they "share similar philosophy - developing and training associates and managers, getting them locally," says Garside.

Whether the hotel group and the owner could share the same philosophy always plays a significant role in the hotel business. Hilton, the famous American hotel group has tasted the bitterness for failing in reaching consensus on talent development with the owners, insiders say. It has opened just 5 hotels in China while its business partners have changed substantially in the same time.

(China Daily 06/16/2008 page6)

The maximum speed is limited at 100km/h on the new road that has six lanes on the two ways.

Lang Lang and his father Lang Guoren at a concert rehearsal.

Nine-year-old Lang Lang returned home two hours later than usual because he was asked to join the school choir. His father had thought his boy had been playing and was fuming with rage.

What happened next may explain the drive behind one of the best pianists the world would ever have.

On this particular Beijing day, Lang Guoren was feeling the pressure. He was living off his wife's small income and the neighbors didn't understand why the father and son had moved from their home in Northeast China all this way to Beijing. It was 1992. "What future was there in playing a piano?" They may have asked.

To make matters worse, Lang Lang's tutor had said he would not teach him any longer.

When the boy finally came home, the angry father beat the boy black and blue without asking anything.

He then gave him a bottle of tablets and screamed: "You don't practice hard, why not kill yourself? Take the pills or jump off the building, you can choose.

"Then I'll die with you."

In complete shock, the boy opened the bottle, but threw it to the floor. He then told his father what he did that afternoon: playing piano for the choir.

The desperate father hugged his son and cried.

They say that behind every successful man there is a woman. But for world famous pianist Lang Lang, his father has always been the driving force behind the pianist's achievements.

Born in 1954 into a worker's family in Shenyang, Liaoning province, Lang senior showed great interest in music when he was a boy. He learned Chinese flute, the only instrument the family could afford. He also made an erhu fiddle by himself.

But the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) sent Lang into a factory, then to a local acrobatic ensemble before finally he served as a policeman.

The best years of Lang's generation were wasted in the political turmoil, so it was common for parents of their age to pin their hopes on their children. Lang was such a typical father.

When the 3-year-old Lang Lang played a neighbor's piano for fun, his fingerwork amazed their neighbor surnamed Jin, who was the conductor of the performance ensemble of the Shenyang Air Force.

He urged Lang's father to buy a piano, saying his son would be a big star. Believing in his boy's potential, Lang spent 1,700 yuan ($240) - an astronomical sum for a common family at that time - to buy a piano.

In the first year, the father taught himself to play the piano before teaching his son. The next year, Lang took his son to Zhu Yafen, a piano professor of Shenyang Conservatory of Music.

When he realized that Shenyang was too small for his son, Lang quit his job and accompanied Lang Lang to Beijing in 1992. Lang Lang's mother stayed behind to earn money to support the father and son's life and study in Beijing.

"When professor Zhu suggested us to move to Beijing, I hesitated for a while because it meant we had to give up many things in Shenyang and the life of the family would totally change," he said.

"But for the future of Lang Lang, we would like to do everything."

They rented an apartment in Beijing and started a lonely and hard life in the city without the support of friends or relatives.

Because he was not a Beijing citizen, Lang Lang had to pay extra money to the primary and middle schools attached to Central Conservatory of Music.

In the afternoon, he studied piano with a teacher of the Central Conservatory of Music.

"The first year in Beijing was pretty hard. I was father, mother, maid, chef, play partner and the assistant teacher everyday," Lang says.

The only thing that made the tough father angry was when Lang Lang slackened off.

"At that time I was afraid of my father and longed for my mother. But I never hated my father," Lang recalls.

"My father was very stern and strict with me but the point is, I was never forced to play the piano.

"I really enjoy playing the keyboard and it was my own choice. I had the ambition to be a piano master when I was 5 and my parents helped me achieve the goal."

In 1994, Lang won fifth place in a national competition, however the Ministry of Culture would only pay for the top four players to participate the Anderlinger Youth Piano Competition in Germany.

Believing that an international competition would help broaden Lang Lang's horizons, Lang senior borrowed 50,000 yuan from relatives and friends. Lang Lang repaid his father's faith by winning first prize. It was his first world champion.

"I was very strict with Lang Lang, but he understands me and works very hard," says Lang senior.

"What I want to say is as the parents, you can do anything for your son regardless of any repayment."

(China Daily 06/16/2008 page8)