In the past, when you talked about the Middle East, what did you think of?

Before he came in person, SC Johnson's impression of the label was also these. However, when I was immersed in the scene, I found its diversity, its literature and art, its romance, its sense of culture, and its human touch......

There are so many surprises here, like Qatar.

Walking through the traditional old market of Waqif, it is like traveling to the picture of one thousand and one nights, in the bustling old streets and alleys, inadvertently everywhere, buildings and people, as if going back in time, as if traveling through history.

The most surprising thing is the abundance of goods here, which is extremely inclusive. From a variety of restaurants and cafes, to Middle Eastern souvenirs, spices and perfumes, crafts and souvenirs, there's also Bird Market?

It's not hard to understand literally, Bird City. But in fact, it's not just birds that sell here, but also all kinds of animal pets, kittens, dogs, rabbits, turtles, and even falcons!

Domesticated falcon hunting has been a tradition of the Arabs for thousands of years, and it is a tradition that has been passed down to this day, especially among Qataris. You can take a photo with the falcon, and you can also buy a falcon's eye patch as a souvenir, and the price ranges from more than 100 yuan.

There is also a very unique Falcon Hospital next to it, and the procedures are very clear from registration and waiting for sick falcons to blood tests, films, and surgeries. The hospital also provides beauty services, such as beak grinding, claw trimming, and even feather replanting for hair loss, which can be found in the hospital for all kinds of feathers. The cost of medical treatment for the falcon varies from tens of thousands to tens of thousands.

There is no shortage of local delicacies at the market. The deepest memory is at a restaurant at the entrance of the market, which was overcrowded and full of people waiting for a table. The owner is very traditional Qatari and the restaurant is family-run and has been passed down from generation to generation.

The boss recommended fried hummus cake + fried lamb liver, and then rolled up with naan to eat, and then served with a cup of Pepsi, the so-called big naan roll everything, the taste is very unique.

Go to the old market at sunset, find a chair on the side of the street and sit down to observe, whether it is a handsome policeman riding a horse and wearing a white coat, a woman dressed in black and wearing Arabic decorations, an old man smoking a hookah and drinking tea on a roadside dining seat, or a young migrant worker who is busy transporting goods, or a couple holding hands, or an adult with children......

It's not hard to find a lot of special accents that belong only to the city. This may be the breath of life in a city, so real.

Follow your guide and drive into the desert to embark on a wild tour. The car winds its way into the endless depths, bumps and thrills along the way through the desert, climbs to the top of the hill, and rushes down again, the sand covering the glass like waves of the sea.

There are many places in the Middle East where sand bashing can be done, but Qatar is special in that it is the only one with an inland sea, next to the Gulf and Saudi Arabia. At sunset, watching the sun sink into the sand dunes little by little, the sky is dyed pink, and it becomes the most romantic moment at the border between sand and sea.

If the National Library is evaluated from the perspective of a tourist, it is that the Internet celebrity can no longer be an Internet celebrity, which is very suitable for styling.

The library was designed by the world-renowned OMA studio, whose lead designer was Rem Koolhaas. This man's name may not be well known, but when it comes to his other building, the CCTV headquarters building, the legendary big pants......

In fact, this is a country that pays great attention to education, especially the Education City, which is home to the research institutes and branches of the world's top universities, and this library is part of the Education City. The exterior resembles a shell-like structure of sequinned paper that has been pulled apart and folded in half at the corners, with simple lines and plenty of open space inside the building.

Inside, you can see the entire library at a glance. The large transparent windows give the whole building a sense of lines, but if you look closely, the glass is corrugated to reduce the brightness of the light and ensure that the indoor light is not too dazzling, which is especially important for buildings located in desert countries.

The use of a large area of white with black, gray and gold immediately highlights the high-end style of the design in the museum. The bookshelves are placed on the stairs and are raised layer by layer, and when viewed from a high place, it is very geometrically beautiful.

In order to protect the ancient books from the light, a six-meter-deep library of ancient books was designed in the basement of the very center, with marble as the main material, distinguishing it from other modern buildings dominated by stainless steel.

The design concept is to make people think, in the age of electronic revolution and digital culture, do people still need libraries?

The desire to create a design that expresses the vitality of the book can be studied within the collection itself. So despite the fact that the Qatar National Library has only one floor, it covers an area of 42,000 square meters, which is equivalent to the length of two Boeing 747s.

More than 100,000 books covering a wide range of fields, including rare documents and manuscripts related to Arab-*** culture, and it is said that there are many manuscripts that are unique in the Middle East. The library is full of seating desks and reading spaces, and it can be said that it has a rather academic atmosphere.

Whether it's going to the Old City of Doha, browsing the bustling markets, asking for a cup of tea and a hookah like a local, going to the museums and libraries to check in the art palaces built by the world's great architects, or running to the desert not far away to see the boundary between the inland sea and the sand, or sitting on a bench by the turquoise sea in the evening and watching the bay skyline light up little by little.

The 2022 World Cup will be held here, and all eyes will be on the Middle East's jewel on the Persian Gulf, and SC Johnson is looking forward to seeing it again in three years' time.