Q+A | Ian Riley

Q: How do you spend your weekend?

A: I enjoy spending the weekends at home with the family, helping with my daughters' homework and catching up on e-mails and reading.

What are your hobbies?

Reading.

What's your favorite book?

Most of my reading is business related but I do find time for novels. My favorite is For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway.

What's your most treasured possession?

My family.

What kind of "green" lifestyle do you have?

We often go shopping by bicycle rather than car. When we eat out, we like to walk to a restaurant near our house rather than driving into the city center. Also, air conditioning can use a lot of energy, so we have installed extra insulation at home and we keep the temperature a little higher.

Are you sorting or recycling garbage in China? What are you doing to help tackle the garbage crisis in China?

Living a green lifestyle in China is not always easy, but there are many steps that can reduce energy and resource consumption. We are choosing fresh foods with less packaging in order to tackle the garbage crisis.

Apart from you, how many international employees from Holcim work in Wuhan? What does it feel like to be an expat working in a very traditional Chinese factory?

There are currently six foreigners working in Huaxin. All are based in Wuhan. Huaxin still has some traditional elements to the company culture, in particular an emphasis on hard work, dedication and trust. I also find the Huaxin employees embrace change. They are eager to learn new things and continually seek to improve. It is really a pleasure to work with my Huaxin colleagues.

What's your secret for working in a different culture?

When it comes to working with different cultures, the first rule is to be patient and tolerant of differences. You should try to understand the culture you are working in before trying to make others understand your way. Despite the differences in culture and habits, I find that Chinese people are at heart very similar to English people. If you deal with others with openness and respect then, in the end, that is the way others will treat you.

(China Daily 08/23/2012 page16)