Three years later he was a member of the takeover task force crew of the Great Wall Sheraton Hotel Beijing, then in 1987, Mueller was appointed manager of Shanghai's Hua Ting Sheraton Hotel, the city's first five-star hotel.

Two years later he was promoted to general manager of the Sheraton Alice Springs Hotel in central Australia, and later GM of hotels in Johor Bahru and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia and in Sydney.

Mueller then returned to China and following stints at the Sheraton Guilin Hotel, Sheraton Nanjing Kingsley and Four Points Sheraton Pudong, he moved into his current role at the Sheraton Shanghai Hongqiao Hotel earlier this year.

"I honestly haven't had any problems living or working here because I am quite familiar with the culture," Mueller says. But he admits some funny things happened in his early days.

"Back then, I remember, a Western chef wanted to have 'fresh chicken.' But when the 200 or so arrived, he told the receiver to 'put them into the freezer.'

"Guess what? When he went to freezer later, he had formerly live fresh chickens, feathers and all, everywhere in the cold room. We had to extract them with pick axes and hot water," he says.

When he left for Australia, Mueller's memories of Shanghai were of gray buildings and transport problems. "It has turned into a fantastic, vibrant, world-class city unlike any other I have ever worked in," he says. "The Chinese are learning and developing so fast. It's mind-boggling."

Though busy at work, Mueller says he tries to finish everything on his desk every day. Busy work and an easy life is his credo.