在伊朗開賓館的桐廬人

覃愛玲

申屠荷芬，浙江桐廬人，因為丈夫姓何，大家習慣稱她何嫂。2008年夫妻倆來到伊朗，在伊朗，尤其是德黑蘭的華人圈，她廣為人知。他們開的德黑蘭華人賓館是不少中國人在德黑蘭的落腳之地。

初闖他鄉(xiāng)奮斗三年沒賺錢

來伊朗十多年，何嫂如今已經(jīng)適應了德黑蘭當?shù)氐纳?，有穩(wěn)定的生意和朋友圈。德黑蘭的生活安全、方便，開車10多分鐘就能到達雪山，氣候夏天涼爽，冬天暖氣充足。

何嫂笑稱自己當年和老公是被“騙”來伊朗的。當時，一個朋友給正在建設的伊朗中國商貿城招商，把項目前景講得無比美好，老公動了心，就決定到伊朗來闖一闖。隨后夫妻倆一起來到了伊朗。

相比溫州和臺州等地，桐廬人去國外做生意的較少，一般在家鄉(xiāng)上上班，日子過得不錯。但是她老公還是想出國“闖一下”，考慮到當時已經(jīng)40多歲，再不出去可能就沒有機會了。

在伊朗中國商貿城的經(jīng)歷并不盡如人意。商貿城開在伊朗和伊拉克交界處的阿巴丹，200多家中國商戶中，福建人居多。夫妻倆開了一家?guī)装倨椒矫椎某?。這里在兩伊戰(zhàn)爭前是伊朗的石油輸出集散地，曾經(jīng)頗為繁華。但是戰(zhàn)爭期間遭到嚴重破壞，戰(zhàn)后長期未能恢復。

由于離沙漠近，經(jīng)常有沙塵暴，日常用水都是咸的，吃的水需要另外購買，語言也不通，商戶們的生活很艱苦。待了3年多，2011年下半年，因為商貿城生意欠佳，夫婦倆把剩下的五六十萬元貨物以3萬元甩賣掉后，來到了德黑蘭。

回憶起在商貿城經(jīng)商的經(jīng)驗教訓，何嫂認為，主要是阿巴丹附近民眾貧窮，購買力有限，再加上商貿城自身經(jīng)營管理也有一定問題。夫妻倆在阿巴丹沒掙到多少錢，離開時甩賣貨物又虧了一點，再趕上2012年匯率貶值，存在當?shù)劂y行的20億里亞爾本來約值200萬元，誰料想竟貶值了五六十萬元。3年多時間的辛苦經(jīng)營，最后只剩了來時的本錢。

德黑蘭租樓開賓館

雖然沒掙到什么錢，但重要的是，他們在伊朗的3年多時間里攢了個好人緣。因為去得早，店鋪又是在入口的第一家，不少后來去阿巴丹的華人都是他們接待的，夫婦倆在伊朗當?shù)卣J識的人逐漸多了起來，跟大家的關系也很融洽。

結束超市生意后，考慮到不少華人來伊朗需要住的地方，很多朋友建議他們夫妻倆開個賓館，表示不僅自己會光顧，還會帶朋友來住。于是，他們在德黑蘭租下了一棟樓，開起了華人賓館，就這樣一直做了下來。

德黑蘭可謂是夫妻倆的有緣之地。2018年之前，他們開的華人賓館一直生意興隆。他們將自己的賓館取名為“伊朗華人商會德黑蘭接待中心”，主要接待前往伊朗從事商務工作的華人。

賓館位于德黑蘭市北部，是六層的獨棟樓房，五層住客，一層作為管理和其他用途。生意好時，還會租上附近好幾套房。德黑蘭北部是當?shù)氐母蝗藚^(qū)，租金比南部和西部等其他區(qū)域要高出不少。但是考慮到治安好、環(huán)境好、空氣好，中國在伊朗的大公司基本租住在北部。何嫂的一個老鄉(xiāng)，在德黑蘭南部租了面積大一倍的房子，生意卻比她差得多。在2018年匯率大幅貶值之前，何嫂的這棟樓一年租金約合人民幣60多萬元，如今雖然按照當?shù)刎泿抛饨鹨呀?jīng)翻了一番，但換算成人民幣實際上還少了一半，只需30多萬元。

除了一些來伊朗考察市場的臨時商務人員，何嫂的賓館有一批長期住客，包括一些大型中資企業(yè)在當?shù)氐膯T工和一些中小企業(yè)在當?shù)亻_展商務工作的人員。大型企業(yè)大多在當?shù)赜凶约旱霓k事處和住所，但有時一個項目開工，多的時候達到兩三千人，接待不過來，就需要住到外面的賓館中。

中小企業(yè)以做貿易為主。在何嫂的印象中，伊朗的小百貨大部分來自中國。浙江人在伊朗做汽車配件的也比較多。有一家來自浙江的閥門廠，現(xiàn)在還把樣品放在她的賓館里。伊朗的礦產(chǎn)、大理石、冷凍海鮮和開心果等特色資源產(chǎn)品，也是很多中國商人喜歡進口到國內的貨物。

伊朗流傳著華人商海沉浮的故事

2018年后，由于國際環(huán)境的變化，賓館的生意每況愈下，何嫂感慨：“這幾年就是混混日子了?！逼鋵嵥麄兊那闆r還算是比較好的?！爱吘乖诋?shù)赜羞@么多賓館，只有你一家能堅持下來。”這是其他人對他們的評價。

以前德黑蘭有二三十家類似的華人賓館，現(xiàn)在只剩下了幾家。有的雖然還在運營，生意并不好，只是因為簽的租房合同還沒到期，在勉強維持而已。何嫂的賓館因為開的時間早，已經(jīng)快10年了，而且夫妻倆人緣好、經(jīng)營得當，被認為是他們能堅持下來的主要原因。

賓館是信息的匯集地，尤其像何嫂的賓館這種以中國商務人員住宿為主的賓館，各種商務信息自然靈通。在伊朗的中國人不多，大家一起吃幾頓飯，很多信息就都知道了。

何嫂印象深刻的是，2016年據(jù)說歐美要解除對伊朗制裁的時候，幾個月內大批華人就從迪拜來到伊朗，希望發(fā)現(xiàn)新的商機。但隨后因為政策沒有進展，就不再來了。

中國人在伊朗做生意的各種故事在當?shù)氐娜A人圈里也廣泛流傳。一個湖北商人在德黑蘭建了一個大酒店，因為相信伊朗本地合作商，結果大幅虧損，伊朗合作商卻掙了錢;一個做海鮮凍品的中國商人，2019年前掙了3000多萬元，由于新冠肺炎疫情影響，一下子虧掉了2000萬元;一個來自河南的礦產(chǎn)商人，一度連買大餅的錢都沒有，后來做鐵礦發(fā)了財……

在伊朗辦工廠，是另一種投資方式。跟國內相比，伊朗的工作節(jié)奏要慢得多，但能源、電費和人工都要便宜很多，當?shù)卣畯恼呱弦仓С滞鈬送顿Y辦廠。

何嫂的賓館里目前就住著兩位從國內來、有意在伊朗投資建廠的中國商人。一個是1月來的，另一個是3月來的，都是在國內提前打了新冠疫苗。工廠基本設在當?shù)氐淖再Q區(qū)內，租地還是買地，選擇什么樣的產(chǎn)品，能否直接在伊朗本地市場消化掉，都是投資設廠的重要考量。其中一位溫州商人，是何嫂在商貿城時就認識的，在國內找了合伙人，想讓何嫂也投資參與其中。

伊朗的疫情走向目前仍然不容樂觀，何嫂辭掉了雇傭的阿富汗服務員，來自河南的廚師也回國打疫苗了，現(xiàn)在就剩下她自己里外照管著賓館的事務。雖然去年7月回國作為出國人員第一批打了疫苗，但除了采買等必要的活動，她也盡量不出門。今年正月的時候她曾經(jīng)想回國，但機票買了好幾回，終究未能成行。現(xiàn)在的租房合同是每年一簽，形勢變化太快，“要是打仗了或發(fā)生重大變故，我也就回國了”。

在何嫂的印象中，現(xiàn)在的伊朗人“沒有錢，不愛消費了”。以前去義烏進貨的挺多，現(xiàn)在很少。但只要頭腦靈活，還是能發(fā)現(xiàn)一些商機。比如由于伊朗貨幣貶值厲害，已有中國商人抓住機會，將當?shù)氐拈_心果和大理石等貨物賣回國內。此外，何嫂認為伊朗現(xiàn)在市場上的很多機器生產(chǎn)設備、生產(chǎn)資料等已老化，要是伊朗國內市場環(huán)境穩(wěn)定，未來肯定能成為一個需求巨大的市場。

The Tonglu Couple Running a Hotel in Iran

By Tan Ailing

Hailing from Tonglu， Zhejiang province， the Hes have been in Iran since 2008. They are well known in the Chinese community in Teheran. Their hotel is one of the favorite places for those Chinese visiting or working in Teheran.

Living in Iran for over a decade， Shentu Hefen， better known as Mrs. He， is now well integrated into local life with a stable business and many friends around. Life in Teheran is safe and easy. It only takes ten minutes drive to a nearby snow mountain， where one can enjoy a cool summer as well as a comfortable winter with sufficient heating.

She was “tricked” by her husband to Iran years ago， Mrs. He jokes. At that time， Mr. He was attracted by the offer from the newly established Iran-China Commerce and Trade Center. Compared with those from Wenzhou and Taizhou， fewer people in Tonglu choose to venture overseas， because generally they could live a comfortable life by working in Tonglu. However， already in his 40s， her husband decided to take the risk and come to Iran.

Their experience at the Iran-China Commerce and Trade Center was not all smooth sailing. Located in Abadan city along Irans border with Iraq， the center boasted of over 200 Chinese businesses， most of which were run by those from the neighboring Fujian province. The couple opened a supermarket hundreds of square meters in size.

Before the Iran-Iraq War， Abadan was quite prosperous as Irans oil export distribution center. But it was seriously damaged during the war and failed to recover for a long time. Also， close to the desert， sandstorms hit frequently， water was salty and scarce： indeed， drinking water had to be purchased separately. Then there was also the language barrier. After staying for more than three years， in the second half of 2011， the Hes sold their business and moved to Tehran to find new opportunities.

For their unsuccessful experience in the center， Mrs. He believed that poor management of the center and locals limited purchasing power in Abadan were largely to blame. Considering the loss in clearance sales when leaving Abadan and the exchange rate depreciation in 2012， they did not make any money during the first three years in Iran.

Although unprofitable， the couples business helped them win many friends in Iran in the past three years. Gradually， they also knew more and more local people and maintained a good relationship with them.

After they closed their supermarket， many friends suggested that they open a hotel to mainly cater to Chinese coming to Iran. The couple took up the suggestion and rented a place. The rest is just history.

Sitting in the north of Teheran， the hotel， which was named Chinese Chamber of Commerce Reception Center in Teheran Iran （or CCCRC）， is a stand-alone six-story building， five of which are for guests and one for administrative and other uses. Sometimes during the peak season， they still have to rent several additional apartments nearby. Although the rent is much higher in northern Teheran， where wealthy families congregate， than other aeras， good public security， good environment and good air mean that large Chinese companies in Iran have generally chosen this area as their base， a large source of guests for the hotel， as they often stay there for the long term. Then other sources include short-term visitors and business travelers， as well as groups of workers when a big project is launched.

The Hes were doing brisk business until in 2018， when the currency sharply devalued and the international circumstances changed dramatically， forcing the closure of more than a dozen hotels like theirs. Thanks to the Hes good management over the past ten years， they have managed to keep their hotel going.

Hotels have often played an important role as information exchange channels and centers， and the Hes hotel is no exception， especially since their guests are mostly Chinese businessmen and all sorts of information are naturally flying about and passed from one another quickly. A most impressive experiences for Mrs. He was in 2016 when the EU and the US were reported to be lifting sanctions against Iran， throngs of Chinese came to Iran from Dubai within only a few months， hoping to find new business opportunities. But it soon petered out as no progress had been made.

Setting up factories in Iran was another popular investment. Compared to China， the pace of work in Iran was much slower， but the costs of energy， electricity and labor were much cheaper. Two Chinese businessmen are staying at Mrs. Hes hotel right now， doing some fieldwork for setting up factories there. As with the majority of people in China， the two businessmen were vaccinated before traveling abroad.

The situation in Iran is still not optimistic as far as combating COVID-19 is concerned. Except for shopping and other essential activities， Mrs. He tries not to go out although she has already been vaccinated. To her， the Iranian people nowadays become less inclined for spending and consumption： far fewer Iranian merchants journey to Yiwu to buy small commodities. Nonetheless， there are still business opportunities out there to be tapped. For example， the drastic devaluation of the Iranian currency enabled some Chinese businessmen to buy in a much cheaper price local pistachios， marble and other goods， and sell them back to China. With Irans aging machineries and equipment， once Irans domestic conditions stabilize， Mrs. He believes it is destined to become a market with a huge demand in the future.