The quadrennial football feast ignited Qatar, and the two-day group stage quickly spread the advertising slogan "China first, world second" of Hisense around the field.
In this World Cup, where there is still no presence of Chinese teams, sponsors and suppliers from various industries have formed a "Chinese team". From event souvenirs to tourist accommodation and the construction of the final venue, Lusail Stadium, Chinese elements are everywhere.
With fans from all over the world flocking to Qatar, accommodation conditions have already become a social media topic ahead of the game results. Among them, the containerized fan hotels in the Qatar fan village have attracted much attention.
Qatar Fan Village Container Hotel
This container type hotel is about 2.7 meters high, with a total area of 16 square meters. It can accommodate two single beds, a wardrobe, coffee table, and seats. In addition, there is a pantry and bathroom, and each room is equipped with cooling facilities such as fans and air conditioning. The price of the room per night is $200, which is about RMB 1400.
Container hotel interior
According to the Qatar World Cup organizing committee, over 1.2 million foreign football fans are expected to enter Qatar during the tournament, with an average stay of 4-5 days. According to the local tourism bureau, the number of hotel rooms in Qatar was only around 30000 in the first quarter of this year.
To increase accommodation supply, Qatar has utilized all available resources, such as private homestays, apartments, etc. In addition, unconventional accommodation resources such as temporary container houses, tents, and cruise ships have also been adopted.
Container hotels in Fan Village are already a relatively affordable accommodation option, with prices ranging from $500 to $5000 per night (approximately RMB 3544 to 35444) for hotels in Qatar.
Among the six newly built fan villages in Qatar, the "Free Zone Fan Village" is located in the southern part of the Qatari capital Doha and is the largest fan village built for the World Cup, with a total of 6000 such simple container houses.
Qatar's' Free Zone Fan Village 'Image source: CCTV News
It is understood that the container houses in the free zone fan village are all made in China, and there are also Chinese enterprises present in the container houses in other fan villages and various venues.
In fact, mobile homes made in China are currently in high demand overseas. According to the cross-border index of Alibaba International Station in August, the online GMV (total transaction volume) of China Mobile Housing has increased by 117% in the past two years, and "ready-made houses" and "expandable container houses" have become hot search keywords, with search volume increasing by about 8 times.
Zhejiang Putian Integrated Housing Co., Ltd., headquartered in Keqiao District, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, has undertaken an order for 5200 sets of container housing modules from the Qatar World Cup.
According to Qianjiang Evening News, this World Cup big order was received through Alibaba International at the beginning of the year. After confirming the samples, Qatar placed the first batch of orders for 3000 sets of mobile homes. After sending the goods as scheduled, the company will also send installation videos and drawings in full.
After these boards were transported to Qatar, local workers and masters built the house like building blocks. Two to three experienced installers can install a house in just 4 hours.
According to Southern Daily, three companies from Guangdong also supplied about 5000 sets of container houses, with Guangdong Zhonghui Green Construction Mobile Housing Company, one of the suppliers, providing 2000 sets.
Another company involved in the construction of the 'Fan Village', Suzhou Hangcheng Integrated Housing Co., Ltd., received an order from Qatar at the end of August this year and supplied 1000 sets of container houses to the other party in just one month.
According to CCTV News, Qatar is very satisfied with the quality of container houses produced in China. After the World Cup, these containers will be donated to Kenya and other places to provide free assistance to those who have no fixed abode.
As the world cup host country with the smallest land area in history, Qatar, which has an area similar to Qingdao, has built 7 stadiums and renovated 1 stadium, with the participation of Chinese companies.
The Lucerne Arena, built by China Railway Construction Corporation, will host important events and competitions such as the semi-finals, finals, and closing ceremony of this World Cup. The champion team will hold the World Cup trophy here.