Courting attention

Locals throng the court to watch the village-level basketball tournament in Taipan, Guizhou province. Some spectators even travel from as far away as provincial capital Guiyang, which is a 200-kilometer journey. ZHANG KUI/FOR CHINA DAILY

During four days of hoops action, over 50 million online viewers, mostly from across the prefecture, had tuned in to watch livestreaming of the games, turning it into a phenomenal event, which has even drawn comparisons to the NBA in terms of its appeal to local communities.

"The number of spectators and the participating areas that the tournament covers have been skyrocketing every year," said Cen Jianglong, a basketball zealot from Taipan village and a co-organizer of the tournament.

"The key to its popularity is that this tournament truly belongs to local people and connects neighborhoods like no other event does. The proximity to each and every player and spectator makes it special," said Cen, who has played basketball recreationally for 20 years.

Launched across the province in 2021, the "Gorgeous Countryside" campaign that promotes development in rural China in culture, tourism and sports, has grown rapidly facilitated by the expansion and upgrade of local sports venues and exercise facilities.

Across the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, there are nine sports stadiums and eight venues at the county-level, 43 multifunctional sports facilities built under the poverty alleviation relocation plan, and 296.8 kilometers of eco-friendly fitness trails. Across Guizhou, almost every township has a basketball court, according to Zhang Bin, an official from the sports bureau in Taijiang county.

"The development of sports facilities has laid a solid foundation for such highly popular events to go to the next level and encourage more people from the countryside to exercise more," said Zhang.