Dutch travelers Rogier Bikker and Maren Striker, who arrived Friday noon in Rotterdam in the Netherlands after a three-month 20,000km trip along the old Silk Road using only Chinese brands, were applauded by their hometown fellows and principle sponsors for their epic drive trekking.

"It is often said that people in Rotterdam are born with their sleeves rolled up, which means 'we do it'. I see similarities with the attitude of these two young men and their Chinese sponsors. Maren and Rogier started with a dream. With passion, they built their dream and they did it," said Rotterdam's Vice Mayor Mr. Maarten Struijvenberg at the welcome home party.

The journey coincides with the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the sisterhood between Rotterdam and Shanghai, where the two young men kicked off their adventure on July 25th.

During their drive across 11 countries along the old Silk Road (China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Austria, Germany and Holland), they used only Chinese design products, such as BYD car, Huawei smart phones, Lenovo laptops as well as tents, sunglasses and even underwear.

For Maren and Rogier, both in good health and high spirit, the success of their initiative "Brand New China" is a "proof of the pudding in the eating". With images and videos of their trip shared in website, weibo and facebook everyday, they shared itinerary of their journey, test results of Chinese products as well as feelings when meeting other cultures and people all along the trip.

"During the past 5 years living in China, we've seen China change from the factory of the world to a place with driven people designing innovative products at fascinating companies...During our 3 months journey through 11 countries we meet remarkable Chinese people in each of the countries we pass through, discovering a 'brand new China' along the way," announced the two Dutch guys on their website homepage.

For Isbrand Ho, Europe's Managing Director of BYD Auto, who provided the car and sponsored all the spending of the project, Maren and Rojier have demonstrated through their envious trip the strength of "Made in China" and increasingly important "Design in China".

"People start to realize that among the cars your're driving, the phones you're using, the clothes that you're wearing, lots of are now designed in China. This will continue to impact on all of us in coming years," said Mr. Ho at the welcome ceremony.

For example, "BYD F5 Suri, the car that has taken Maren and Rojier through the 20,000 km journey, has experienced some cultural shocks, as well as some physical shocks, but it made it. I believe it is a strong statement of the quality, the durability and the reliability of the BYD cars," added the European manager of one of China's largest companies to have successfully expanded globally.

"During the whole trip, the car performed extremely well. We never had a single technical issue, not even when we mistreated the car by going off road. It seems like nothing matters to the car, it just keeps on going. We are really impressed by the quality. It is like with all the equipment we brought from China: Every piece of kit delivered the quality we needed," confirmed Rogier Bikker. Endit

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)