Mecca is the first shrine of Islam. It is famous because the Islam founder Muhammad was born here and he created and spread the Islam. After the founding of Saudi Arabia, Mecca became the capital of the western Saudi Arabia. Whenever the 12th month of Islamic calendar comes, millions of Muslims will gather in Mecca for the annual pilgrimage. Influx of a large number of Muslims has brought great opportunities to the local transport industry. The demand in bus market is growing year after year. Thanks to a good brand reputation and excellent product quality in recent years, Weichai bus power in the local market is gradually gaining a foothold and has develop a loyal customer base.
Guard Pilgrimage Road
"Over the last three years, the market share of Weichai product has been growing steadily in Saudi Arabia. Nearly a thousand engines are sold here every year, because of the special religious status of local area and the growing up of infrastructure construction of the country, bus and construction machinery power, in particular, were extraordinarily developed. Yu Chunbo, manager of Weichai maintenance service center in Saudi, told reporters that in order to expand the influence of Weichai bus power in local area, whenever the Muslim pilgrimage starts, they will provide on-site service on the way to pilgrimage near Mecca to ensure Weichai "heart" is powerful and help pilgrims arrive in the holy city.
"Muslims around the world going to the holy pilgrimage, will generally choose Jeddah International Airport which is close to Mecca, and then take the bus to Mecca. The flow of vehicles along the way never ends and the weather is terribly hot, in the afternoon, and sometimes the outdoor temperature may soar to 50 degrees Celsius. If the vehicle breaks down, the passengers will have to wait there and expose to the hot sun, and also the traffic of the entire pilgrimage fail to go smoothly." To ensure the safety and order on the pilgrimage road, Weichai service center in Saudi timely adjusted service strategy by working together with the local largest transportation company to provide round-the-clock services for hundreds of coaches equipped with Weichai "heart".
Adapting to Differences Leads to Success
Yun Chunbo, when spoke of his service experiences during Hajj, smiled and told reporters that the Muslim pilgrimage period was the best time of our sun tanning, and Ramadan is a good chance for us to lose weight.
As a traditional Muslim country, Saudis strictly adhere to Islamic canon customs. In addition to the annual pilgrimage festival, Ramadan is one of Islam's most important days. On June 29 of this year, Saudi Arabia officially entered the month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, the Muslims are not allowed to eat, smoke, etc. from sunrise to sunset, and meanwhile non-Muslims in Saudi territory also must follow Saudi Arabia's religious practices, or else, violators will be deported.
In order to facilitate Muslim customers to carry out religious activities, Yu Chunbo and his colleagues provided customers on-the-spot repair and maintenance services. During that time, they lived in the dormitory arranged by the customers, who asked them not to make a fire to cook and do not eat and drink in front of Muslims, only when it’s dark, can they dine. "Possibly the power of the religious belief made customers never feel and show how hard it is without eating, but we were awfully hungry." Yu Chunbo said they had to both maintain the vehicles and have training during the day, sometimes they could not endure hunger any more, then they would find a secluded little corner to drink a little water and eat some biscuits, a hot dinner in the evening is the only decent meal they can have in a day. So they will lose several kilograms in one month.
After busy work, sense of fatigue and achievement made Yu Chunbo forget the distant homeland. "Although Saudi Arabia has a totally different religious customs and geography and climate from hometown, but we have won the respect of customers due to our attentive services and we have established good relationships at the local area, therefore, whether at work or in life, adapting yourself to the environment is always the precondition to make successful development."