The Camp Nou Experience and the game with Villarreal were a huge treat for the winners of the fourth edition of the competition
Eight million followers
The four winners are among the eight million followers of Barça’s accounts on Sina Weibo, Tencent Weibo and Wechat. Barça currently has over 3,400,000 followers on Tencent Weibo and on Sina Weibo it has a further 4.5 million. "Barça’s massive influence has helped promote Catalonia as a tourist destination” says Antonio Li, who works for the Catalan Tourist Board in China.
After visiting the Camp Nou, the Chinese fans will take in such sights as Montjuïc, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) and La Pedrera. They’ve even enjoyed a workshop to learn more about Catalan cuisine. This week, their travels will take them to Girona and Figueres, home of the famous Dalí Museum, as they continue to explore the many wonders that this wonderful part of the world has to offer.
The four Chinese winners of the Action Barcelona, Wang Yijing, Zhang Hang, Nie Chenyu and Zhen Lengping, have enjoyed a fully Barça flavoured week. On Saturday they visited the Camp Nou Experience and on Sunday watched the game against Villarreal. Action Barcelona is a competition organised by the Catalan Tourist Board (ACT), Tencent Sport, Qatar Airways and FC Barcelona, and thousands of people entered the fourth edition to win a week in Catalonia including the chance to watch their favourite team in action at the Camp Nou.
Camp Nou Experience
They arrived on Friday, and the following day took the stadium and museum tour. The biggest attractions included the chance to be pictured with the four Ballon d’Or trophies won by Lionel Messi. The tour took them to such emblematic corners of the stadium as the players’ tunnel, the commentary boxes and the pitch itself.
Unforgettable
FC Barcelona has a huge fan-base in China, where the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Xavi have millions of followers. So it was huge thrill for the foursome to get to see the 3-2 win against Villarreal on Sunday night. Voice-messages are a massively popular means of communication among Chinese people, and the four winners shared the whole experience with family and friends via their mobiles. "Singing the Barça anthem with people from all around the world in the Camp Nou was a thrill I’ll remember my whole life” said Nie Chenyu, who has been following Barça since the age of 12.
"It was very cold in the stadium, but it was worth it. It was one of the most memorable things that’s ever happened to me” added Leping on the official Barça Wechat account after the game.
"When I get back to China, I’ll start learning Spanish and Catalan and try to come back to Barcelona to do my masters” said Beijing student Yijing. “My biggest wish is to return to this lovely city and see more Barça matches!"
P Zhang Hang teaches English in China and often speaks about the Barça values and spirit in her classes. "It reminds me of my boyfriend, who got me to watch Barça for the first time and I have been a fan ever since” she says. “Barça and Messi are now a part of my life.” She phoned her boyfriend straight after the game and added that “I hope we can continue watching Barça together until we are 80”.