On the scene: The place to stand is the audience Off the field: The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs likes and follows
Why did the "village BA" full of "agricultural" flavor come out of the circle?
Our reporters Jiang Cheng, Tian Defeng, Zhao Zhao
There is no electronic screen, no commercial advertisement, no pre-match campaign and news release, just a basketball court with red and green colors in front of the village committee; the players on the court kept running, passing, and laying up, and the crowd outside the court cheered. Shout out...a country basketball game that doesn't look professional or high-end, but it's very contagious.
"The atmosphere at the scene is really amazing!" At the end of July, a rural basketball game in Taipan Village, Taipan Township, Taijiang County, Guizhou Province caught the attention of Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On Twitter, he liked the post with the video.
This round of "June 6" Eating New Festival basketball game organized by the local ethnic minorities voluntarily attracted people from Shili Baxiang to watch. Because of its warm atmosphere, it quickly became popular on the Internet and went out of the circle.
Since the venue is in the countryside, the competition is organized by villagers, the contestants are mainly villagers, and even the prizes are local agricultural products such as cattle and fragrant pigs. Netizens affectionately call it "Village BA".
In order to continue the atmosphere of the competition, from July 30th to August 2nd, the Guizhou Province "Beautiful Countryside" Basketball League Qiandongnan Prefecture semi-final was held in Taipan Village, Taipan Township.
Setting up ladders, standing on the roof, climbing walls, the audience was huge, and the cumulative number of viewers of the online live broadcast exceeded 100 million.
Why is Guizhou's "Village BA" so popular?
Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter found that the popularity of rural basketball games is inevitable by chance, reflecting the strong demand for high-quality spiritual and cultural life in rural areas.
"The village ladders are all sold out"
At 3:00 pm on August 2, the scorching sun was in the sky.
The 88-year-old Grandpa Ya was sitting on the bleachers of the stadium with an umbrella, waiting for the upcoming basketball game.
He came from Kaili City, 30 kilometers away. In order to prevent the seat from being occupied, he had to take turns with his wife when going to the toilet.
Many viewers came from Henan, Guangxi and other places to watch a down-to-earth "village BA".
When the game starts, the stadium is full of people and the seats are full. Outside the stadium, on the hillside and on the roof, as long as they can stand, there are spectators. "The ladders in the village are all sold out," the villagers said with a smile.
Some villagers brought iron pots, iron pots, etc. from their homes to cheer the players on the court, basketballs were thrown into the basket, and there were sounds of iron objects crashing everywhere.
The on-site narrator constantly switched between Mandarin, Guizhou and Hmong.
The "Basketball Baby" performance during the intermission was replaced with ethnic minority songs and dances. The prizes for the winners of the competition were Huangping cattle, Rongjiang Tashi Xiangyang, Congjiang Xiaoxiang pigs, Rongjiang watermelons... "Village BA" from start to finish The "village" is full of flavor.
According to preliminary statistics from the Taipan Township Government, during the four-day competition, the average audience per game exceeded 15,000.
Due to site restrictions, more than 10,000 people lingered in the periphery because they could not enter the scene every day.
Many people took pictures and "punch-in" dozens of meters away from the stadium, "just to prove that they have been here."
There were 27 games in 4 days, and some games were played until 4 am the next day.
From dawn to dusk, and from dusk to dawn, few spectators leave early, which is locally known as "Tianliang Culture".
On online platforms such as Douyin, there are hundreds of live broadcasts of Guizhou's "Village BA" and related short videos, and the cumulative number of viewers of the online live broadcast exceeds 100 million. The keyword "Village BA" has entered the hot list for several consecutive days, causing widespread concern and discussion.
Some netizens said: "I watched the game for three days and three nights. The game was wonderful, the scene was spectacular, and the audience was full of energy!" Some netizens analyzed the reasons for the popularity of Guizhou's "Village BA": "The game without capital is popular, down-to-earth and down-to-earth." The players are fighting for their hometowns, not for money, but for fame."
Local grassroots cadres said that sports culture is indispensable in rural revitalization, which not only enables villagers to have good physical fitness and mental outlook, but also brings economic benefits to the local area.
Wang Zaigui, a villager of Taipan Village and a "Village BA" commentator, said that in the past few days, dozens of stalls have been specially designated around the stadium for villagers to sell snacks. The organizer of the event only charged a few hundred yuan for the hygiene fee of the stalls, and a large number of people poured in. When I entered Taipan Village, I brought local snacks and agricultural products on fire. Some small stalls in the village could earn 10,000 to 20,000 yuan a day.
"It has been in operation for decades, and it can't be broken by our generation"
Because of basketball, many young people who worked hard outside came back.
The organizers of this competition were twenty or thirty young people from Taipan Township, including Wang Zaigui.
Wang Zaigui, 26, is a retired soldier and is currently an auxiliary police officer in Taijiang County.
In order to hold a basketball game in the village, he specially asked for a week's leave.
"It's been established for decades, and it can't be broken in our generation." When Wang Zaigui said this, the game had ended, but the temporary auditorium at the gate of the village committee had not been removed, and dozens of children were on the field. Chase the ball.
The history of holding basketball games in Taipan Village can be traced back to 1936.
Since then, the villagers of Taipan Village will hold some sports events such as "Bull Fighting" and "Bird Fighting" every year when they eat the new festival on June 6th. The competition has been passed down.
"I heard from the old people in the village that since 1936, the annual basketball game in Taipan Village has never been interrupted. If there is no basketball, the villagers use cloth to tie it into a ball. Put on an iron ring." said Zhang Shoushuang, party secretary of Taipan Village.
With the passage of time, the reputation of Taipan Township's "June 6th" eating new festival basketball game has gradually spread far and wide. From the initial participation of the masses in Shili Baxiang, in recent years, all counties in Qiandongnan Prefecture will participate in the competition.
Until now, every year before the sixth month of the lunar calendar, in order to hold a basketball game, every household in Taipan Village has contributed, ranging from a few dozen yuan to a few thousand yuan.
"Some people once thought about giving up, but the old people in the village didn't allow it." Wang Zaigui said, "You young people are not as good as we used to be" can completely stimulate the fighting spirit of young people in Taipan Village.
Behind the popularity of "Village BA" is the resonance of a better life
Taijiang County has the reputation of "the first county of the Miao ethnic group in the world". There are many local ethnic festivals, and basketball games, as a team sport, can unite the villagers' sense of unity and stimulate positive energy. Therefore, local villagers have always regarded basketball games as a part of festivals. Fixed items.
"Every time a basketball game is played, villagers from Shili Baxiang will flock here. In order to participate in and watch the basketball game, even people who go out to work will come back." said Yang Dezhao, the county magistrate of Taijiang County.
Zhang Shoushuang introduced that there are more than 270 households with more than 1,100 people in Taipan Village, and two-thirds of the villagers have the habit of playing basketball. Basketball has a good mass foundation in the village.
Large and small basketball events will be held in slack farming and traditional festivals, with a strong atmosphere and a high degree of mass participation in sports.
In addition to the historical heritage of ethnic minorities and the mass foundation of basketball, the popularity of "Village BA" also reflects the strong demand for high-quality spiritual and cultural life in rural areas. Its popularity is inevitable by chance.
In recent years, with the further consolidation of the achievements of poverty alleviation and the continuous advancement of rural revitalization, ordinary people have obtained great benefits, their material living standards have improved, and they have more energy and economic strength to participate in sports and cultural activities.
"Inspired by this, we will further adhere to the people-centered concept. We will do what the masses like, improve the people's sense of gain and happiness, and let them become participants rather than bystanders." Yang Dezhao said.
Chang Hai, secretary of the party group and director of the Qiandongnan Cultural, Sports, Radio, Film and Tourism Bureau, said that the rural basketball game contains people's expectations for a better life. , online and offline linkage, everyone happy together.
However, it can also be seen from the scene that there are still shortcomings in rural sports such as poor skills of competition teams, shortage of referees, and insufficient organizational ability.
Yang Jiahua, section chief of the Competitive Sports Section of the Qiandongnan Prefecture Culture, Sports, Radio, Film and Tourism Bureau, said that the selection and training of rural sports enthusiasts, athletes and referees can be further increased, and events can be gradually standardized and normalized.
Chang Hai suggested that we should continue to explore ethnic sports, strive to expand ethnic sports competitions, leisure experiences and other activities, and carry out traditional sports such as dragon boat racing, bullfighting, Duzhu drifting, and martial arts, so as to release the continuous influence of rural sports events.
■Interview Notes
"Village BA" needs to make up for its shortcomings in the long run
The popularity of "Village BA" in Taipan Village, Guizhou is not an isolated case.
In recent years, with the steady progress of rural revitalization, this kind of head-to-toe "village" rural sports activities are also booming.
In Pingliang, Gansu, a basketball game made spectators who could not find a seat climb the treetops to watch the game; in Guangxi, Fujian and other places, similar village-based sports events were also very popular; in some economically developed areas, rural Sports events are also "matched" into the county gymnasium.
In addition to enriching the spiritual and cultural life of farmers, rural sports activities also promote the rural leisure tourism industry through the holding of events, and further help rural revitalization.
However, although the overall rural sports facilities are improving, there are still shortcomings.
Chang Hai, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Qiandongnan Cultural, Sports, Radio, Film and Tourism Bureau, believes that the current rural basketball courts in Qiandongnan are open-air wind and rain courts, which can only meet basic needs. The next step is to increase lighting, shelters and other supporting facilities facility.
Although the "Village BA" in Taipan Village was a great success, there were some safety hazards during the event, such as overcrowding, and spectators who built ladders, stood on the roof, and climbed the fence risked falling, and so on.
To keep the fire going for a long time and become a carnival for villagers near and far, it is necessary to take measures to ensure the safety of the event, add more spectator seats, and add public toilets, etc., must be put on the agenda.