Live stadium
Local cuisine
Melinda poses for a photo with enthusiastic female fans
Sun Weilun took photos in the stadium
Brother Dry is in the stadium
A huge poster of a football star displayed on a tall building
Youthful trends
On November 21, 2022, the World Cup in Qatar kicked off, and fans from all over the world gathered in Doha to enjoy this football feast. For the World Cup, where "China has not gone to everything except the Chinese team", Chinese fans are naturally indispensable. Many Chinese fans fly to Doha from all over the world to cheer on their favorite teams and stars. Arriving in Qatar is a different experience for these Chinese fans, where they see different human geography and football culture, and the Qatar World Cup is not only a competition for them, but also a life experience.
Fly from Xiamen to Europe
Travelled to several countries and finally arrived in Doha
Xiamen-Europe-Qatar, this is Sun Weilun's World Cup journey.
By the time he boarded his first flight to the World Cup, it had been more than half a year since he began thinking about going to Qatar to see the World Cup. In October last year, Sun Weilun, a sports blogger for ten years, decided to watch a World Cup, saying: "Being close to the quadrennial World Cup is a dream for many people. ”
After booking the tickets, Sun Weilun's visa was also processed smoothly. After taking leave from the company, Sun Weilun officially set off on November 1, and according to the planned itinerary, he first flew from Xiamen to Europe, traveled to seven or eight countries including the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, France, and finally arrived at Doha International Airport in Qatar.
Most people can't fly directly to Qatar, and multiple connections are inevitable, with Dubai being an important stopover.
On November 26th, the group of four departed from Singapore and arrived in Doha in Dubai. She studied football for several semesters, her boyfriend is an avid football enthusiast, and her boyfriend's friends embarked on a trip to the World Cup.
Whether in Dubai or at the terminal Doha, the biggest embarrassment faced by the group of four was that they were often mistaken for Japanese or Korean. "We are considered to be the most Japanese, and from the moment we get off the plane and enter Doha airport, we are greeted in Japanese, and then we are a little embarrassed to say in English 'we are Chinese', and the other party will always show a surprised expression and say that the Chinese team did not enter the World Cup."
In this case, they had to shake their heads and smile and say: We just came to see the game.
"Messi fans" convince parents
Travel from the United States to Qatar
There is no Chinese team, but it does not prevent Chinese fans from supporting their favorite stars. For example, Melinda, a Chinese girl in the United States, went to Doha alone for the best Messi in her heart.
From the United States to Qatar, it takes 14 hours to fly. As a freshman in San Francisco, she joked that she was in class to watch the World Cup, but it actually coincided with the school's Thanksgiving holiday, and after convincing her parents, she booked flights, hotels, and tickets alone.
"I have a 'pretentious' idea that 'I was there to walk with them when the team was at their darkest, so now that they're getting better, how can I not be'." Melinda is a fan of the Argentine team, likes Messi, has watched the game since the 2014 World Cup, and in 2018 she also went to St. Petersburg, Russia to watch the life and death match between Argentina and Nigeria in the group stage, so before the start of this year's World Cup in Qatar, she said to herself, "I must also go to the scene and accompany Argentina on a World Cup trip, because this may be Messi's last World Cup." ”
Traveling to nearly 100 countries and leaving a mark in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Ganko is a seasoned traveler who speaks simple Arabic in addition to English. Before departure, he went to Somalia and Dubai, then took a Qatar Airways flight from Ethiopia for 2,100 yuan, a four-hour non-stop flight, and then hitchhiked to the stadium.
"Hitchhiking is the most common way I get to the stadium in Qatar." For Brother Kan, there is no problem in watching football in Doha, language and culture collide, and hitchhiking with locals is commonplace.
On the other hand, several places booked by Sun Weilun are near the stadium, some are single rooms, some are homestays, and sometimes, he can only make do with one night in the corridor when he can't find a place to live. When he went to Doha to watch the game, he encountered a small accident when hitchhiking, Sun Weilun because of the language barrier, stood on the side of the highway for two hours, he hitched a ride with two kind Chinese guys, and the three became friends and toured Doha together.
Football stars and mascot posters can be seen everywhere
The night is world-class bouncing and turning the audience
As soon as you set foot on Qatari soil, a heat wave rushes in. Melinda uses the lens of her phone to record the exotic scenery that catches her eye. First of all, there are swaying palm trees and tall buildings, as well as huge posters of the World Cup, the star and mascot "Dumpling Skin" Raib hanging high.
On the way to the hotel, Melinda felt the strong World Cup atmosphere in Qatar, and although she did not find Messi's poster, she still took huge posters of other stars.
Football, at the moment, is the theme of this country. When the group first arrived in Qatar, in addition to the World Cup decorations, what excited her the most was the promotional poster of Raib, the large mascot in the mall.
In her eyes, Qatar's urban area is full of high-rise buildings, giving people a feeling of being very similar to Shanghai, Singapore, New York and other big cities, but the area of the urban area is not large, outside the urban area are earth-colored low buildings, the ultraviolet rays during the day are very strong, dry and hot, and the skin will be dry and itchy.
Entertainment in Qatar is also very rich. The group of four spent the day sandboarding in Qatar's desert and at night participating in world-class bungee jumping. At the Fan festival, fans from all over the world jump in the spotlight and dynamic music. Hands raised, bodies swaying to the rhythm, and laughter filled the skies over Doha.
During the day, the most striking thing here is the green field in the desert; At night, the most fascinating thing about fans around the world is the city that never sleeps illuminated by brilliant lights. In addition, there are many performances organized by locals on the roadside, and local costumes and music attract fans from all over the world to stop and watch and take photos.
According to the green green introduction, Qatar's diet is very suitable for meat eaters, Arabic barbecue, Turkish barbecue, Brazilian barbecue, all kinds of barbecue meat, vegetarian dishes are basically salads, for Chinese who are used to eating vegetables, it is not very "friendly". But fortunately, there are Chinese restaurants in the local area, and most of the local Chinese are hospitable, and the prices are not high.
Fan accommodation "affordable"
Chinese elements can be seen in many places in Doha
Many people's stereotype of Qatar is high prices, thinking that Qatar is a country full of "local tyrants", but this is not the case.
Brother Yan said that Qatar also has a lot of foreign workers, and the price is not expensive. For example, at a restaurant owned by an Indian in the fan village, a fried meal costs about 30 yuan. Moreover, the cheapest room for Brother Gan is an iron bed for $84, and you can also choose a wooden bed for $102, which is clean and has free coffee and a bus to the stadium, which is still cost-effective.
In 2014, when Brother Gan went to Brazil to watch the World Cup, a bed in a youth hostel required 1,000 yuan, compared with the accommodation fee of the World Cup in Brazil, Qatar is still relatively friendly to fans.
"Since the fans come from all over the world, men can wear shorts during this time, women can also wear cool clothes, which is basically not allowed in Qatar before the World Cup." In Brother Gan's view, the openness and inclusiveness of the World Cup infected this traditional Arab country, and also brought cultural collision to Qatar to a certain extent.
Chinese elements can be seen everywhere in Doha: almost all souvenirs and commemorative cultural shirts are made in China, such as cups, key chains, bracelets, raib, etc.; Advertisements of Chinese sponsors such as Mengniu, Hisense, and Wanda can be seen in the stadium, and all the electrical appliances in the fans' apartments are also Hisense's; In Doha, you can also see giant panda billboards, and two representatives of China's national treasures, Jingjing and Sihai, lie in the star bedroom of the panda hall and nibble on bamboo shoots, "meeting" fellow villagers and friends from all over the world.
Watch the World Cup live
Feel the most mesmerizing sense of atmosphere
"New and good-looking," Sun praised Qatar's new seven stadiums and state-of-the-art in-house equipment. Both the beautiful design of the stadium and the cooling effect of the air conditioner impressed him. Another thing that struck him was the large capacity and wide view of the Lusail Stadium, which can accommodate more than 88,000 spectators as the final stadium.
In the luxurious stadium, the pre-opening event ignites the audience. Melinda watched as a huge Hercules Cup image appeared in the center of the stadium, the rotating lights around her, and from time to time there were brilliant fireworks, igniting the cheers of the audience.
Melinda, an Argentine fan, sat among Mexican fans, and Latin American fans showed "super enthusiasm" that matched their culture. Especially in the match between the two Latin American teams, the Spanish-language participation rate of this match seems to put Melinda on the Latin American continent, Mexican fans and Argentine fans shouting the names of their home team and players, and when the mood is high, they will each stage a passionate "football dance".
In interviews, several interviewees said that the most fascinating thing about watching the World Cup live is this strong sense of atmosphere, which is the biggest difference from watching the broadcast through electronic screens.
"Watching the game on the spot will be very exciting, and you will unconsciously be infected by the passion of the fans around you, and cheer along with them." When describing the experience and feeling of getting up and visiting the stadium, the most mentioned thing is the waving of flags, shouts and singing over the entire stadium, "It's really fun to be a participant, and the feeling of football connecting everyone is also wonderful."
In the stands of the World Cup, there are toddlers playing with pacifiers in the arms of their parents, couples kissing excitedly because of their goals, and veteran fans in their 80s who are pushed in wheelchairs by their grandchildren.
In Qatar, the green boyfriend organization played together in the Chinese in Doha, making the "friendship of Qatar". They set up a football stadium, and then asked everyone in the group if they were dating the ball, there were more than 100 football fans in this group, all of whom came to Qatar from all over the world Chinese to watch the game, just like that, more and more Chinese fans made new friends, if it happens, in this magical green field, you will meet a few old friends.
As Brother Gan said, "This is a festival for fans all over the world".
Text/Reporter Zhang Ziyuan Intern Tian Luyao
Coordinator/Lin Yan Zhang Bin Photo courtesy of interviewee