Basketball court in a cavern fulfills a dream

Students practice on the newly built court. [Photo by Han Xianpu/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Xinchun village is hidden deep in the mountains of Nayong county, Guizhou province. But there's a basketball court you won't find anywhere else in the world. It's in a deep cave.

With residents' steady efforts, the court has been improved a lot.

Guizhou is well-known for its karst geology, and hundreds of karst mountains and caves have been recorded. However, the steep mountains and broken land left no decent place for recreation — including no basketball courts.

Back in the 1950s, residents who loved playing basketball, built a shabby court on muddy ground. After 30 years, they traded two cows and a pig for the first set of backboards and metal hoops to improve the court.

Construction of a standard court began in 2016 and cost 233,000 yuan ($34,590) — money raised by residents and the village committee, with government support from the poverty alleviation fund.

The splendid and standard synthetic basketball court came into being in a karst cave in December 2018. It included a terraced auditorium and a performance stage.

The court in the cavern brought better conditions for residents, since it's warm in winter and cool in summer — and it's available in bad weather, which attracted more villagers to come and play.

Xinchun village has held annual sports competitions ever since.

Wang Jin in Guiyang contributed to this story.