At the age of 25, Thomas Maier already has six years' experience in the hotel and restaurant industry, including nearly two years in China.

Maier, the assistant restaurant manager of Cafe Zentro at Crowne Plaza Shenzhen, says he loves the hotel and restaurant trade because he likes experiencing different cultures.

Before he came to China, the Austrian had no idea about China and had never thought about coming here. But when he was offered a job nearly two years ago, he thought: "Why not? Let's have a go!"

Now that he has been in China for nearly two years, Maier has learned a lot about Chinese culture, like the importance of mianzi (which lterally translates as 'face value'), and the culture of respecting and following seniors. He has picked up some simple Chinese, such as "Wo yao xue zhongwen (I want to learn Chinese)." He has also learned about Chinese food and dining cultures. "I'll have a lot to talk about with my friends when I go back to Vienna," he said.

Part of Mair's job is to bring Western food culture to China. "Western dining culture is becoming more and more important in China, and that's part of the reason why there are so many foreigners in the hotel business," said Maier.

As a busy member of the hotel's staff, Maier has not been able to visit Splendid China or Happy Valley, both close to the hotel. The farthest place he's been to in the city is the beach, which he loves a lot. He is looking forward to swimming in the summer, which will be his first summer here.

Maier first worked in Shanghai and came to Shenzhen in September 2006. Comparing Shenzhen and Shanghai, Maier said he preferred Shenzhen's climate and hills. "Austria has lots of mountains. I like to see the hills in Shenzhen, but I can meet more expatriates in Shanghai," he said.

Editor: Yan