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Story of Tibetan Landlady
Ahqi, a 44-year old landlady in Qamdo in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, is well known for her successful business experiences.
Starting with an initial capital of 6,000 yuan (about 720 U.S. dollars), Ahqi now has total assets valued at three million yuan.
"The year 1984 was one of the major turning points in my life," Ahqi said. "I quit my job at a waterworks and started to engage in business."
At first, Ahqi ran a small inn named "Brightness" on Jusheng Street. "The inn's name was given by my husband, a middle school teacher, to indicate our bright and happy life in future," she recalled.
According to Ahqi, at that time the country's was beginning to carry out the reform and opening-up policies, so she decided to live a better life by running a hotel.
"There were four state-owned hotels in Qamdo, and mine was the only private one," she said, adding that the two-storey hotel building had eight rooms and 30 beds, and every day the beds were booked up.
With just one employee, Ahqi had to work 16 hours per day to do almost all the service work, meanwhile, she had to take care of her mother, two children and an ill husband.
"My ten years of hard work have returned good results," she said with satisfaction. "My early loans have paid off and life is getting better and better."
Over the past ten years, Ahqi has earned a great reputation in Tibet and has been commended at state and regional levels.
To enlarge her business, in 1995 Ahqi used a 1.1 million yuan bank loan to build a four-storey hotel with 38 guest rooms and 98 beds.
In addition, Ahqi hired eight employees to work in the hotel. The employees are paid a salary of 700 yuan per month, the highest salary of anyone in the service trade in Qamdo.
At present, Ahqi's hotel is earning over 200,000 yuan (about 24,000 U.S. dollars) per year, seven times more than in the early years.
"I will pay off the loan next year and make improvements to my hotel business," Ahqi said.
Ahqi is also an active benefactor in the region. She donates a sum of money every year as financial aid to help poverty-stricken students resume education.
Besides her hotel, Ahqi is also very proud of her two children. Her daughter is working at a local airport and her son is a college student at Hehai University in east China's Jiangsu Province.
With typical Tibetan decoration and building style, Ahqi's hotel has proven attractive to both domestic and overseas tourists alike.
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