You probably know Tencent as the company behind WeChat.
It’s the messaging platform here in China that now claims more than one billion monthly active users.
Well, today we’re going to go for a tour inside its brand new headquarters.
But first here’s why you should know about this massive company that’s coming on to the global tech scene.
Tencent is one of the world’s largest internet companies,
up there with Amazon, Google, Facebook, Alibaba and JD.com.
It was recently ranked number five on the list of world’s most valuable brands
and it’s Asia’s most valuable company - the first in Asia to cross the $500 billion valuation mark.
At the time, it even surpassed Facebook in market value.
This is the main lobby when you first walk in and it feels quite futuristic.
Think of Tencent as a giant conglomerate which spans social networks like WeChat and QQ,
which even has more monthly active users than Instagram.
It kind of feels like I’m in a science fiction movie. Everything is just super modern.
Tencent also offers mobile payments, gaming, news, cloud providers
and it’s getting into artificial intelligence.
It’s also invested in many other companies too, like Tesla and Snapchat.
Just like many Silicon Valley companies that provide employee shuttles for their workers, it’s the same here.
The vans pull up directly into the basement of the building.
There’s a custom app which was made for employees to use to quickly find parking spots
when they arrive, book meeting rooms and even see where their co-workers are.
There’s three separate links, as they’re called here at Tencent headquarters.
The first is the culture link, the second is the health link, that’s where I am now, the third is the knowledge link.
This is the running track, you can actually run it and it’ll connect you from one building to another.
As part of the health link, you also have this massive basketball court.
When I call for an elevator I can only go to the first floor,
but if I want to go to another floor, I’ll have to do facial recognition right here.
But it doesn’t recognize me so I’m pretty much just limited to the first floor.
The desks here are quite traditional. I don’t see a lot of hot desking and laptops going on.
Lunch here is separated into different time intervals in an effort to maximize the space
but not make it too crowded at any given time.
So right now it’s about 12:15pm, the cafeteria isn’t too packed.
It’s definitely starting to get a little bit more crowded.
This behind me is the south tower and then over here is the north tower.
The south tower was actually designed to be a little bit taller than the north tower
in an effort to block the sun so that the north tower is covered a little bit by shade.
Overall I’m told that this building uses about 40% less carbon consumption and emissions
than a building of comparable size.
This is one of the garden terraces that connects these two buildings, the views are great
but it’s way too hot to be outside right now.
The building is so new that this swimming pool isn’t even completed yet.
They’re still doing construction as we speak.
On the top deck here you’re going to have a lounge space and a juice bar.
Welcome to the knowledge link, this is the 35th floor, home of meeting rooms,
the library, Tencent University and meditation.
Hey guys. It’s Uptin. Thanks for watching.
For more on the history of China’s most valuable company,
check out our CNBC Explains, ‘What is Tencent?’ right here.