China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Fans enjoy Chinese room service at Qatar World Cup
Chinese-made shipping containerrooms are helping alleviate the pressure on World Cup organizers in Qatar by offering fans a budget accommodation choice.
A village for visiting soccer fans in Doha, with 6,000 such cabins, is targeted at customers on a lower budget. The 3.1 square-kilometer site can house up to 12,000 people, and has a metro station, bus stop, temporary restaurant and a convenience store, according to Associated Press.
Each cabin is designed to accommodate one or two people, and contains basic furniture including beds, nightstands, a small table and chair, air conditioning, a toilet and a shower. Compared with Qatar’s hotels, the fan village is a relatively cheap option, with each cabin costing around $200 a night. At a smaller site further out from central Doha, some rooms are priced at $80, AP reported.
The commute between the fan village and the nearest World Cup venue, Al Thumama Stadium, takes approximately 20 minutes by car.
According to China Central Television, the container-style cabins are made in China, mostly by factories in Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces. Chinese companies have provided about 10,000 cabins to Qatar World Cup organizers.
“The components of the cabins were shipped to Qatar, after which the local workers assembled the cabins like building Lego houses. It only takes about four hours for two or three experienced workers to finish assembling each cabin,” said CCTV reporter Zhao Yuanfang.
Like many soccer fans who have traveled to Qatar, Chinese fans have had to search hard for a room in the country. He Sheng traveled from Guangzhou, Guangdong, but decided against staying in a cabin.
“It’s pretty hard to book a hotel room in Qatar. Many of the rooms were booked even a year before, most of which are occupied by the players, officials and volunteers. I also heard about the $200 cabin. But my final choice was an apartment, which is more convenient for me as I will stay here until the end of the tournament,” He told media after arriving in Doha.
Omar al-Jaber, the head of accommodation at Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy for the tournament, told AP that most fans still preferred hotels, apartments or villas, but the fan village had attracted those seeking budget accommodation.
The high cost and scarcity of hotel rooms have been major concerns for fans planning to attend the World Cup in Qatar, which has an estimated 130,000 rooms available per day for the tournament. Organizers in Doha have also offered accommodation at camping and cabin sites, and on ships.
Fans have also been encouraged to stay in neighboring countries and fly in for games. Dubai in the United Arab Emirates has begun welcoming World Cup fans who will travel on to Qatar to watch the games.
“The shuttle flights option is one of the options for people who stay in our neighboring countries and … they would like to just spend a day to attend the match,” said al-Jaber.
“So this is a good option for them. If they would like to come and stay, they are more than welcome, of course, and there are many, many options for them.
“We have enough accommodation and people can still come and enjoy the tournament and of course they can choose what exactly they are looking for from the accommodation.”
Lusail Stadium, Qatar’s biggest sporting venue, will host this year’s FIFA World Cup final, marking the first time a Chinese company served as a main contractor to build a FIFA World Cup pitch.
The golden bowl-shaped 80,000seat capacity venue was built by China Railway Construction Corp Ltd. Located in Lusail, some 20 kilometers north of Qatar’s capital Doha, the stadium was completed in 2020 after 40 months of construction. During this year’s World Cup, the venue will stage 10 matches, the most for any stadium during this tournament.
With high temperatures and humidity in Qatar, coupled with exacting building standards, construction of the stadium has not been easy. State-owned CRCC said it has organized teams of more than 7,000 workers from China and abroad, and given full play to its resource integration advantages.
CRCC carried out practical cooperation with more than 20 thirdparty enterprises, such as UK company AFL and multinational firm Aurecon. CRCC has formed strategic partnerships with these enterprises in the areas of design, steel structures, membrane materials and electromechanical equipment among others, it said.
“The successful building of the stadium has been another important milestone in the overseas development path of CRCC,” said Zhuo Lei, president of China Railway Construction Corp (International).
“Qatar has been an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative. The project has shown an important referential significance for China to continuously promote the BRI, and further expand cooperation with countries and regions involved in the initiative,” Zhuo said.
The venue is one of the most environmentally friendly stadiums globally. Sustainable building practices were applied throughout the construction of the facility. The construction process has saved about 40 percent of freshwater consumption compared with building a traditional stadium.
For instance, workers collected, recycled and reused rainwater, and they also used desalinated seawater, and recycled water was used to irrigate plants around the stadium.
The project also utilized related technologies to simulate temperature, humidity and air velocity in the stadium, and comprehensively considered the locations of large cameras and media platforms to reasonably arrange seats and make audiences feel comfortable. The building of the stadium also ensures compliance with the requirements of FIFA, said Hameed Otaibi, a Jordanian engineer who participated in equipment installation at the stadium.
Meanwhile, Leonidas Tzevelekas, a Greek engineer who has participated in construction of the stadium for the entire process, said that by relying on advanced digital technologies adopted by Chinese enterprises, he and his colleagues have been able to control construction accuracy down to the millimeter level.
“The project will help speed up the pace of Chinese enterprises and products going global. It will become another golden name card of Chinese enterprises that have successfully operated abroad, and lay a solid foundation for Chinese enterprises to further develop in overseas markets,” Zhuo said.