For Lars Bruegmann, being a father is as challenging as being the boss of a company, but he loves to do both, he said.

In 2006, two years after his first visit to China, he met his Canadian wife in Zhuhai. Now they have two children who go to a local international kindergarten.

It is not always easy to keep the balance between his work and family, he said, but he has tried his best to "make my children's breakfast and sit with them every morning so that we always have some time together each day".

"My family gives me strength and great joy," he said. "Their support and patience have been invaluable."

They recruited a Chinese nanny to work part time during the week. In this international family, the children learn English from their mother and German from their father. But most of the time, they speak Chinese.

He said he prefers his children to learn and get acquainted with different cultures because it "changes the way you look at the world".

"Knowing the world and traveling around has been more educating for our family than I could have hoped," he said. "Exposing our children to different languages and cultures has been the best gift we can give as parents."

He tries to combine Western and Eastern cultures in his home, and food is a perfect example.

He said he does not know any children in his hometown in Germany or in Canada whose favorite food is sushi, like his four-year-old son Bryon, and the dish of choice for his two-year-old daughter Lilo is Peking roast duck.

Bryon loves playing piano and has just started learning kung fu. On the weekends, his father often teaches him to play golf.

Bruegmann said he will go back to Germany with his family in around 2015, to combine and oversee the group's resources from the German headquarters, but he wants his children to keep their tie with China.

"I will do everything to keep the culture and connections alive," he said.

"The music, the arts, the languages, whatever we provide them now, you never can take it back."

He said he would be delighted if his children decided to inherit the family business when they grow up, and will prepare for them by providing "the best education".

He also said he hopes they could take a traditional apprenticeship like he did when he was young because apprenticeship is "one of the best education models".

But it is equally fine if they would like to do something else, he said.

"Sometimes you just need to believe in yourself and go for it," he said, adding that going overseas, especially to China, is one of the best decisions he has ever made, for his education, his private life and his business.

zhangzhao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/13/2013 page6)