Suzhou Supplement: My Suzhou: Alvaro Rautenberg

Born in Brazil, but raised in Germany, Kempinski Hotel’s General Manager Alvaro Rautenberg has held positions in Kempinski Hotels all over China from Shenyang to Beijing to Sanya – and finally – Suzhou. After settling here for three years, he’s ready to agree with the Chinese wisdom that Suzhou is indeed a paradise.

What is your favorite spot in Suzhou?
Ligongdi. There’s a huge playground with activities for children. At night the trees and bridges on the water are all lit up. They even do fireworks on the water on Fridays and Saturdays that everyone can enjoy. It’s very romantic.

Suzhou is divided into three sections, the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), the old city and the Suzhou Development Zone (SND). What do you think is the character of each?
The SIP actually feels very modern; everything is quite new and well organized. The old city itself is very nice as well, but it’s different than the SIP in that it has grown organically over the years; it’s not planned. I don’t spend much time in the SND, so I really can’t say anything about it.

What’s your favorite sightseeing spot in the old city?
I like taking my daughter to The Humble Administrator’s Garden and walking around. There’s also the boat rides on Pingjiang Lu.

How is Shenyang different than Suzhou?
If you want to make a comparison with America, I’d say that Shenyang is like Detroit and Suzhou is like Florida. The clear difference between Shenyang and especially the SIP [in Suzhou] is that the SIP was planned. In Shenyang, as far as I know, they are still trying to rebuild and reorganize the city.

Is there is a local type of food that you’ve discovered that you like?
I’m a big fan of a type of local bean called jitoumi. I also really like qiancengbaotarou, which our Chinese restaurant makes. It is layers of pork shaped like a pyramid on top of a bed of greens which you eat with some bread on the side. It reminds me of the Turkish döners you get in Germany.

The Kempinski Hotel is situated on the shores of Dushu Lake. How do you think this adds to the hotel?
In terms of the spa, you can take in the view of the lake during your treatment. The executive lounge upstairs has great views of the city across the water. The jetties out onto the water are also great for parties, including weddings.

The two classic cities of paradise in China are Suzhou and Hangzhou. How do you think that Suzhou compares?
To be honest, I think that traffic in Hangzhou is a real nightmare, worse than Suzhou. If you go to the West Lake on a weekend in the summer, you find that it’s overcrowded. Hangzhou feels overrun compared to Suzhou.

What’s the international community like in Suzhou?
It is different here than in a place like Shanghai. In Suzhou, everybody knows each other. The first time I was in Beijing 12 or 13 years ago, it was still like this. It was like a little village. I like Suzhou for this because it brings me back to that time.

Web: www.kempinski.com/en/suzhou

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