China News Service, Taijiang, Guizhou, November 4th: Title: Taipan, Guizhou, the hometown of China’s “Village BA”: meeting friends through football to inspire new vitality in rural revitalization
China News Service reporter Zhang Wei
Walking in Taipan Village, Taijiang County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, basketball elements can be seen everywhere: old photos of “Village BA” on the roadside fence, “Village BA” mascot sculptures, “Village BA” themed restaurants, and basketball cartoons Wall paintings… The most eye-catching one is the Chinese “Village BA” basketball court. These elements constitute the unique cultural symbol of Taipan Village, the hometown of China’s “Village BA”.
The picture shows the mascot sculpture of “Village BA” in Taipan Village.Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Wei
Taipan Village, about 30 minutes’ drive from Taijiang County, has changed because of basketball. From village competitions to national competitions, “Village BA” has inspired new vitality in the rural revitalization of Taipan Village, giving villagers their vision and expectations for sports to change the countryside and sports to make rural life better.
The picture shows a corner of Taipan Village.Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Wei
Taipan Village currently has 272 households with a total of 1,187 people, of which the Miao population accounts for 92%. This small village in the mountains has been unknown before. The “village-flavored” basketball series held from July to August 2022 made Taipan Village popular all over the Internet. It was praised by netizens and many basketball enthusiasts as China’s “Village BA” “home. Basketball star Stephon Marbury and famous NBA star Jimmy Butler have come to Taipan Village to “check in.”
The picture shows the highlights of China’s “Village BA” finals.Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Wei
The 2023 China National Hemei Rural Basketball Competition (Village BA) finals will be held in Taipan Village from October 25th to 28th. Even the chilly autumn rain could not dampen the enthusiasm of the villagers in Taipan Village to watch the game. From noon to late at night, the stadium stands were filled with more than 20,000 spectators. During the game, the people of Taipan Village and Qiandongnan Prefecture also presented unique ethnic performances to the players and tourists. This scene made Du Shiheng, a member of the Shandong Leping Town team who came to compete, very excited. “The atmosphere of the stadium is very good. I have never played in front of so many people. I am a little nervous.”
On the court of China’s “Village BA” finals, the participating players played the purest basketball; outside the court, the villagers of Taipan Village who “know ball” cheered for the wonderful performance on the court and also used aluminum hammers to Basin way to encourage players. Huang Xuebei, a teacher from Shanghai, had never been exposed to basketball before and was attracted by the atmosphere of the court. “When we made a few three-pointers in the final game, I also shouted cheers and applauded with everyone.”
The picture shows the Taipan Village team playing a friendly match with a foreign team.Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Wei
In Taipan Village, the villagers’ love for basketball is engraved in their bones, and Lu Dajiang is one of them. 81-year-old Lu Dajiang started playing basketball when he was 7 or 8 years old. Lu Dajiang recalled that the older generation used to use four tree trunks to prop up two simple backboards in the mud, paired with woven bamboo baskets, and used lime to draw boundaries in the mud. Basketball is tied with cotton and twine to form a “cotton basketball”. “I have been playing ball in the mud with the adults since I was a child. After every game, the lime lines were stepped on and the ‘cotton basketball’ was scattered.”
It is understood that in 1936, Taijiang students studying abroad used their vacation time to build an irregular basketball court at Chengguan Street Gate, Taijiang County. This was also the first basketball court in Taijiang County. With the introduction of basketball, since the 1940s, every year during the “June 6th” eating festival of the lunar calendar, Taipan Village has held a basketball game, inviting villagers from all over the country to participate. In 2022, Taipan Village held hundreds of basketball games. The largest event was watched by nearly 20,000 people offline and hundreds of millions of people online.
The picture shows villagers in Taipan Village watching a football match on the roadside.Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Wei
Influenced by the long history and atmosphere of basketball in the village, generations of villagers have loved basketball. “The villagers of Taipan Village’s love for basketball is engraved in their bones.” Cen Jianglong, director of the Taipan Village Committee, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Service. “Every household in the village, men, women, old and young, loves basketball. Basketball games are held every holiday. It’s an essential activity.”
“The venues were very crude at that time, and the basketball hoops were made of wood and made by carpenters in the village.” Cen Jianglong, a “post-85s generation”, started learning to play basketball at the age of 10. “When I was a child, I watched my father represent the village and the surrounding villagers together. Playing basketball, the atmosphere is very good, almost every venue is full. At that time, I thought that when I grow up, I will also play basketball on behalf of the village.”
Inheriting this love for basketball, Cen Jianglong never gave up this “persistence” even when he went out to work. “When I used to look for a job outside my home, my first priority was to find a factory with a basketball court.” Cen Jianglong said that in 2022, “Village BA” became popular, and he could not only play basketball but also start a business when he came back, so he and his wife simply quit their jobs and returned to their hometown to start a business. Nowadays, with the influence of “Village BA”, Cen Jianglong’s restaurant business is getting more and more prosperous.
The picture shows the “Village BA” themed tea shop in Taipan Village.Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Wei
The popularity of “Village BA” has also attracted many tourists to “check in”, which has also given the villagers of Taipan Village a “tourist meal”. Like Cen Jianglong, more young people choose to return to their hometowns for development. Taipan The per capita annual income of the village has reached 13,000 yuan (RMB, the same below). While the villagers are well-fed and well-off, the level of public infrastructure in the village is also constantly improving. With new street lights and new stadiums, the villagers’ sense of happiness is rising steadily, which also lays the foundation for the sustainable development of “Village BA”.
Next to the Chinese “Village BA” basketball court, the “Village BA” themed tea shop invested and built by the village collective offers “Southeast Guizhou style milk tea” – “Alpine flowing water slightly drunk milk tea” and “Taijiang sour soup fish and fruit tea” “Soul Wood Ginger Milk Tea”… is eye-catching. Liu Wenjing, the person in charge of the tea shop who returned to her hometown to start a business, said that with the IP of “Village BA” and combining the local delicacies and specialties of Taijiang County to create unique milk tea, it can not only attract the attention of young people and meet consumer needs, but also Promote local delicacies and kill two birds with one stone.
The picture shows a corner of Taipan Village.Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Wei
Data shows that since the “Village BA” came out of the circle, Taijiang County has received more than 2 million tourists, driving comprehensive tourism revenue to exceed 2.3 billion yuan. In the first half of 2023, Taijiang County’s GDP increased by 7.7% year-on-year, ranking first in Southeast Guizhou Prefecture for six consecutive quarters and in the forefront of Guizhou Province. The number of tourist receptions increased by 58.54% year-on-year, the comprehensive tourism income increased by 80.68% year-on-year, and the per capita disposable income of rural residents Revenue increased 9% year over year.
The picture shows a corner of Taipan Village.Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Wei
“Taipan Village has changed a lot in the past year, and there are more and more tourists.” Cen Jianglong is full of expectations for the future of Taipan Village. “We will maintain the purity and fun of ‘Village BA’ and use ‘Village BA’ to Promote the integrated development of agriculture, culture, tourism and sports, build a beautiful and harmonious countryside, make the birthplace of Taipan’s ‘Village BA’ more vibrant and full of fireworks, and polish the golden sign of ‘Village BA’.” (End)
[Editor in charge: Han Yajie]
2023-11-05 02:06:40
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