Weekend-5-16

iz info
A Journey through China with
Shakib Al Hasan
Weekend Tribune Desk
This Eid, five lucky fans got a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to tour China from June 29 to July 04 with Shakib Al Hasan, the best cricket allrounder
in the world. Organised by Huawei Consumer Business Group, the tour comprised of visits by Shakib Al Hasan and the fans to stateof-the-art
Huawei facilities as well as historic and modern Chinese sites.
The lucky fans were selected through a contest titled ‘Who Doesn’t Want to Go to China with Shakib’ launched by Huawei Consumer
Business Group. Commenced on June 11, the contest continued till June 23, 2017. The contest involved contestants taking selfies at a Huawei Store
nationwide and posting on Facebook with the hashtag #ShakiberSatheChina, with privacy set at ‘Public’. They then received a quiz consisting of simple
questions on Huawei and Shakib Al Hasan, which they answered. Huawei selected five lucky winners from those participants.
The following are the accounts of a couple of fans on the visit.
Raiyan Kabir
Our journey began on June 29. It was
hard to believe that Shakib Al Hasan, the
best all-rounder in the world, was about
to join us for the tour, till he reached the
airport at noon.
We started the journey together and
had a stopover at Kunming. The flight got
cancelled due to bad weather, which is
why we were taken to a hotel. At around
3pm, we resumed our journey for Beijing
from there. The next morning, just
before moving to the Huawei Exhibition
Center, Shakib himself visited us to get
introduced. It was a memorable moment.
We, along with Shakib got to know
Huawei’s present and future technologies
at the Huawei Exhibition Center. Later,
we walked through the whole campus
area and took some group pictures. We
hung out there for a while with Shakib.
This was probably the best moment of
the tour, where we were able to strike
up a conversation with Shakib. Moving to
the Huawei Research and Development
Center, we observed the processes of
making a handset.
The destination for the
next day was the Great Wall
of China, one of the Seven
Wonders. Shakib with his
wife and daughter joined
us that day. We got tired
climbing up the wall, but it
was fun. We later had lunch
at Burger King and had a
short shopping break.
The next morning, right
after having our breakfast,
we caught our flight for
Shenzhen from Beijing. In
between, we roamed around
Beijing airport. After a long
wait, we reached Shenzhen
at around 12 am.
Huawei Headquarters was our next
destination and like the other days,
Shakib accompanied us. Huawei officials
welcomed us and gave us a detailed brief.
At an interactive session, Shakib also
asked all his fans some questions. Shakib
was given a crest from Huawei and he
presented a signed jersey to Huawei.
We moved to the canteen to have lunch.
Then we went to watch a Chinese cultural
program. The next day, we came back
home to Bangladesh.
I never imagined being in such close
proximity to Shakib Al Hasan in person.
This was truly a wonderful experience
for me. Visiting the Huawei Research
and Development Center and Huawei
Headquarters was an unbelievable
experience for me as well. And Shakib’s
friendly attitude towards us deserves
mention. The amazing hospitality from
Huawei was memorable. I am sure to talk
about this remarkable tour to my next
generation someday.
Fardeen Arafat
The journey through China was undoubtedly the
best Eid gift I could expect, especially because
the exceptional Shakib Al Hasan was among my
companions during the journey. I considered
myself very lucky when I first saw Shakib and his
family in person at the airport on June 29. After
reaching Beijing, at 4.30 in the morning, we were
introduced personally to Shakib and took our first
group photo.
Our first scheduled destination was the Huawei
Exhibition Center, where we witnessed Huawei’s
latest, advanced and incredible technologies. After
that we hung out with Shakib at the lounge where
he shared some of his stories regarding his cricket
journey. The next day was scheduled for a visit to
the Great Wall of China. The experience of visiting
a wonder of the world exceeded my imagination
and expectations. We then moved to another
beautiful city Shenzhen, to attend a conference
at the Huawei Headquarters with the Huawei
technical team. Later, I got Shakib’s autograph, had
traditional Chinese cuisine, and visited the world’s
greatest electronics market named Huaqiangbei,
pronounced huá qiáng běi.
We returned home with a lot of unforgettable
memories. To sum up, this journey was like
Huawei’s motto - ‘Make It Possible.’ Huawei indeed
“Made It Possible.” •
WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017 19