CHINA: Chinese tourist chiefs and luxury hotel managers are reinterpreting the old communist dictum, 'Serve the People', with help from an unusual source; an English butler.
When Robert Watson entered service in 1974, China was in the midst of the cultural revolution. If he had ventured to Beijing at that time, his profession would have condemned him as a class traitor.
Today, however, the English manservant has been recruited by the authorities to instruct local staff in the finer points of etiquette and customer satisfaction in response to a boom in the five-star service industry.
Thanks to a surging economy, an influx of foreign professionals and a government campaign to improve manners ahead of the 2008 Olympics, Beijing is calling on outside expertise to lift the standards of its service sector.
With international salaries for top manservants as high as £90,000 a year, Mr Watson's advice does not come cheap. The cost of his courses ranges from £2,000 to £6,000 a week.
Towering over his students and cracking jokes, the bespectacled Englishman comes across as more Basil Fawlty than Jeeves, but Mr Watson says the modern global age requires something more than the stiff formality of the traditional English butler.
"We need to educate wealthy Chinese about the value of having a butler," he says. "It not only enhances their status, it means that they have someone to organise their lives in the way they want."
Frankle Guo (25), a reception manager, said: "In the old days, our concept of service was very basic, but Robert has really opened my mind. He's shown me how to put the 'Wow!' factor into service."