Guizhou Cave Basketball: Sports Tourism Boost

Xinhua News Agency, Guiyang, August 31 Title: Guizhou Cave Basketball Hot Sports and Tourism Integration brings new opportunities

Xinhua News Agency reporter Luo Yu

Every day, there are long queues of private cars, and thousands of spectators from inside and outside the province are coming to watch the game… Recently, in the vast mountains in northeastern Guizhou Province, a unique “Cave Basketball Tournament” has become popular.

This basketball event, called “Yanhe’dong Basketball’ Four Provinces and Cities Invitational Tournament”, is held in Fengming Cave in Quantang Village, Heishui Town, Yanhe Tujia Autonomous County, Tongren City. Because the river is close to the junction of Guizhou, Hunan, Chongqing and Hubei provinces and cities, a total of 12 grassroots teams from four provinces and cities participated in the first “Cave Basket”.

After driving from Guanzhou Town, Yanhe County, you can see slogans such as “Yanhe’s ‘hole basket’ – a place where basketball people have to get in this life” on the side of the road entering Quantang Village. On the side of the roadside near the mountain, one after another is full of private cars with license plates such as Hunan N, Gui D, Zhejiang C, and Chongqing A.

From the sky, the Quantang Village, 17 kilometers away from the county town, is located in the rolling mountains. A winding mountain road winds along the mountainside like a white ribbon, just connecting the entire village. The inconspicuous Fengming Cave is located right next to the Qiantang Village near the road.

“Come on! Come on!” Before arriving at Fengming Cave, the cheers of the commentator and the audience came to my ears. The reporter could see from the entrance of the cave that the top of the cave was covered with high-hanging ribbons and rows of headlights that were scattered with light. The players on the basketball court in the middle were fighting fiercely, and the stands on all sides were filled with spectators.

Wang Chunnian, secretary of the Party branch and village director of Quantang Village, introduced that this cave basketball court can accommodate 2,500 to 3,000 spectators, but it welcomed more than 5,000 spectators during the opening ceremony on August 25, and more than 6,000 spectators were in and out on the 30th final day, which was very lively.

“The cave basketball game has found a way for the integrated development of culture, sports and tourism for Quantang Village.” Wang Chunnian introduced that as a village with nearly 1,500 villagers, Quantang Village has only developed more than 2,000 acres of peach and plum industries in addition to planting traditional rice and corn crops. The villagers have always been eager to find a new path to development.

As one of the most typical areas with karst landform development, Guizhou has been striving to build a major mountain outdoor sports brand for many years. A series of mountain events such as mountain marathons, mountain cross-country running, mountain bicycles, and mountain paragliding have been emerging.

“Karst caves are a typical feature of karst landforms. Many places such as Ziyun and Libo in Guizhou have been developed in combination with cultural and sports projects such as rock climbing, adventure, and concerts, and have been favored by the market.” Wang Chunnian said that inspired this, as early as 2023, the villagers of Quantang Village planned to transform Fengming Cave into a basketball court through fundraising, but later gave up due to insufficient funds.

In July 2024, Yangnan Village, Siqu Town, Yanhe County, 60 kilometers away from the county town, built a cave basketball court with an area of nearly 5,000 square meters and a capacity of more than 4,000 people. After the event that year, it not only became popular on the Internet, but also attracted a large number of spectators from inside and outside the province to watch the game. This has accelerated the pace of promoting the construction of Fengmingdong basketball court.

“After 2024, villagers raised funds and applied for government project approval, the Fengming Cave Basketball Court finally started construction in April 2025.” Wang Chunnian said that Fengming Cave was named after the core landscape in the cave “Dragon Playing with the Phoenix” and the often sound of the phoenix chirping in film and television dramas. In the past, it was a good place for villagers to cool down in midsummer.

In August 2025, the construction of Fengming Cave Basketball Court, which integrates the cave basketball court and the natural cave landscape, was completed. “The temperature in the cave is maintained at 15 to 25 degrees Celsius all year round, which can be called a ‘natural constant temperature air conditioner’.” Wang Chunnian said, “With the favorable conditions of sheltering from wind and rain, this cave stadium comparable to a modern venue has become a place for tourists from both inside and outside the province to check in once it is completed.”

“The first time I played a game in the cave, the temperature was cool and the audience was enthusiastic. The whole atmosphere was great!” said Peng Hongmiao, the leader of Hunan Yongshun team.

Tian Xiangyu, a basketball enthusiast who took a shuttle bus from Hunan to watch the game, said that from the opening ceremony to the final day, he did not fall for every day of the game. “Watching basketball games in the hole is really eye-opening.”

Driven by the event, thirty or forty snack shops and stalls inside and outside the cave were booming. Zhang Zheng, a villager in the surrounding village called “Dong Bar” rented a stadium facility in the cave, opened a shop called “Dong Bar” in the cave. The store sells popcorn, grilled intestines, beverages and other products, and the maximum one is more than 5,000 yuan a day.

“The first ‘Dongbasketball’ competition has brought economic benefits to the villagers.” Wang Chunnian said that Quantang Village will hold basketball events rhythmically in the future, and through the competition, it will drive the integrated development of sports, culture and tourism in the village, and truly open up a long-term path for villagers to help fitness, increase fun and increase income.