A man from China hitch hikes from Asia to see a game at Camp Nou

Love for Barça led Zhe Dong, a blaugrana fan from the Chinese province of Hubei, hitch hiked all the way from his village to Barcelona just to see a Barça game live and in the flesh. He achieved his dream last month when he witnessed the 3-2 league victory against Villarreal.

The road from China to Catalonia was long and arduous. The route began in his home province, the remote province of Hubei; he made it to Beijing and then on to Manchuria. From there he made his way westward across Russia before arriving at the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. His journey continued as he continued through Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy and France before finally landing in Barcelona.

“There were some difficult moments, but at the same time I met a lot of people who helped me and who encouraged me,” remembers Dong. “When I felt low, Barça was like a guiding star that showed me the way to Barcelona and Camp Nou.”

On 30 January, after more than a month of travelling, Zhe finally arrived at his destination. Reaching Camp Nou after so many days on the road provoked various feelings: “At that moment I was so proud to be a Barça fan and it was all worth it in the end.”

His love for FC Barcelona stems from the time in which Ronaldinho kept the fans on the edge of their seats. Since then, Zhe made the promise to travel to Barcelona to see a game live. “I had a dream and it came true,” he says. “The idea was to come and show my enthusiasm and love for Barça.”