Why can Guizhou always attract attention here?, After "Village BA", there is "Village Supermarket", a Small City Story ③ | Just lifted out of poverty three years ago BA | Village Supermarket | Guizhou
In late July, every Saturday, tourists who come specifically to Qiandongnan to "chase the ball" will be very conflicted, with two famous national games taking place simultaneously: one is the "Super Saturday" that cannot be missed by the "Village Super" in Rongjiang County, and the other is the fierce competition between the "Village BA" in Taipan Village, Taijiang County.
In just one year, two counties in southeastern Guizhou, which were originally silent and had just been lifted out of poverty in 2020, have become popular due to mass sports. Last July, the lunar June 6th basketball game in Taipan Village, Taijiang County became popular and was affectionately known as the "Village BA". In May this year, in Rongjiang County, adjacent to Taijiang County, a "Village Super" rural football league spontaneously organized by 20 local village football teams also became a "phenomenon level" competition.
These competitions, which originated in the countryside, now carry not only the local people's love for sports, but also the expectation of bringing about change. Under the concrete interpretation of "surrounding the city from the countryside", the Miao and Dong villages in the rugged mountains have made a new attempt to reposition themselves in the coordinates of their era through sports setting up and economic singing.
On July 29th, the Guizhou "Village Super League" football league, which has been hot for two months, welcomed the night of the final battle. One day later, in Taipan Village, the "June 6th" New Food Festival basketball game also came to an end.
After the game, how to turn "traffic" into "retention" and continue to revitalize the brand effects of "village supermarkets" and "village BA" on the land of Qiandongnan is a practical problem in front of Rongjiang County and Taijiang County.
The "village competition" effect is also spreading nationwide, and many places want to successfully replicate the next "village IP". The team that came from all over the country to Taipan Village Committee to collect scriptures has not stopped since July last year.
On the evening of July 16th, two teams from the "Village BA" and "Middle aged Group" in Taipan Village were fighting against each other. Photo by Wang Qian
A small county town can squeeze in 50000 people a day
Since the rise of "Village Supermarket", every "Super Saturday", Rongjiang County, with a population of 385000, attracts 50-60000 tourists.
Before 10 o'clock in the morning, the road where the main entrance of Rongjiang Sports Stadium is located has been closed. Under the silent red sheds around the field, merchants were busy. The driver told reporters that the most exaggerated thing is during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, when vehicles pass through a one kilometer bridge over the Zhahao River in an hour.
A sour soup beef restaurant not far from the gymnasium also reached its peak on Saturday, with a shift from usually serving 20-30 tables to 80-90 tables. The front desk staff at a hotel on the edge of the county remember that all the rooms for the final day of the "Village Super League" on July 29th were booked as early as mid June.
Before arriving at the scene, one kilometer away, you can see two tall buildings next to the sports hall hanging huge red slogans: "Guizhou Village Super, life should have pursuits.".
On July 15th, the highest temperature in Rongjiang reached 35 degrees Celsius, and at 2 pm, the stadium stands were already full of people. Men, women, and children were waving fans one after another in the audience seats, waiting for the football match to start in 2 hours.
Due to an overload of people on the field, the mobile phone signal has become unstable. Even though the communication workers transferred from Guiyang and Bijie were busy until 4am the night before to increase communication load, the audience in the stands would still see their mobile phone signals changing from 5G to 3G.
The grandstand area of the Rongjiang County Sports Stadium is also adorned with a sign that reads "Favorite Fans Area for Outsiders". Photo by Wang Qian
"This is the Dongshui River in Miaoshan, and the Sweet Rongjiang River. Welcome everyone to come," commentator Yang Bing stretched his voice before the competition began. After the "Village Super League" became popular, Yang Bing and several other football enthusiasts in the county were pushed onto the learning and speaking table. They know most of the players on the field. When people are too busy, two commentators have to talk about four games in a row in one night, and by the end, their voices have become hoarse.
The first game of the afternoon is between Yuezhai Village and Liubaitang Village. Two villages, separated by only one ridge. The out of town tourists on the stands and on the sidelines have little preference for the team on the field, cheering for every shot. During the game between team members replenishing water and replacing players, Yang Bing worked hard to mobilize the atmosphere on site. He called out to the audience to shout the unique cheering sound of "Village Super", "Hang Banglang! Woo --"
At the same time, in Taipan Village, Taijiang County, less than 200 kilometers away from Rongjiang County, the deafening "wuwuwu" sound also came from the audience. More than ten thousand people gathered around the newly renovated basketball court this year, with the lights shining brightly. The opening match of the June 6th basketball game was held.
Beside the stadium, Liu Qiangyan listened to the constant cheers in her ears and watched the live broadcast on her phone at her department store. Due to busy business, she didn't go to the stadium. On this day, her son Cen Jiangkai was playing basketball with CCTV host Sa Beining on the court. Cen Jiangkai, who is in his early twenties and over 1.8 meters tall, is the latest generation of young main force in Taipan Village.
His previous generation of players, 38 year old Cen Jianglong, was the village director and president of the basketball association in Taipan Village. In the past, during the "New Food Festival", he and the young people in the village would be like migratory birds returning to their nests. Even if they took leave, they had to cross mountains and mountains back to the village to participate in basketball games.
After "Village BA" became popular, Cen Jianglong quit his job outside and went home to develop his basketball career with his parents and fellow villagers. Since the launch of the "Village BA" in July, Cen Jianglong has received countless leaders from outside for research and investigation every day. During the summer vacation, there are also waves of university professors and students engaged in summer social practice here.
The competition also requires Cen Jianglong to worry about. The number of registered teams this year is much higher than before. Considering safety issues, the competition schedule has been shortened from the original plan of 21 days to 15 days. The organizers have to rearrange the competition and contact various teams to change their schedules. During the preparation period, Cen Jianglong hardly slept until two or three in the morning every day, and slept less than 4 hours for several consecutive days.
Half a month before the start of this year's basketball game, the entire street of Taipan Village underwent a facelift. Each store has put on red signs and hung red banners filled with slogans about "Village BA". Everywhere photos of the game and basketball elements are posted on the walls on both sides of the road.
Before the start of this year's "Village BA" competition, all the shop signs on the streets of Taipan Village were changed to red, and red banners were hung all over. Photo by Zhang Lingyun
IP is not formed in a day
"This competition has been around for over 80 years?" Several tourists from Guiyang asked incredulously in the stands of the "Village BA". "The basketball league here is 10 years earlier than the NBA," said Zheng Tian, a doctoral student from Fujian Normal University, confidently sharing his research findings in Taipan Village
The basketball game in Taipan Village can be traced back to the 1930s. This small village in southeastern Guizhou, like other villages, holds celebration activities such as basketball matches, bullfighting, and singing mountain songs during the "New Food Festival" on June 6th, which has become a traditional custom and has been passed down to this day.
As an outsider, Zhang De also has a deep understanding of the love of basketball among Taiwanese players. In March 2022, Zhang De came from the Investment Promotion Bureau of Taijiang County to Taipan Village as the first resident secretary. At first, Zhang De felt a bit uncomfortable: next to the village committee was the basketball court in the village, and he was often awakened by the sound of playing basketball at six or seven in the morning. After the sun sets, there are still villagers playing basketball. At first, he felt a bit noisy. Later, Zhang Dechang, who had finished his day's work, was invited by the villagers to play basketball for a while. He gradually adapted - basketball is a part of life in Taipan Village.
Every year when the basketball game is held, people from surrounding towns gather here, and tens of thousands of people surround the streets of Taipan Village tightly. The players also took leave one after another and returned to the village to play basketball from their place of work. The commentator on the "Village BA" basketball court is Wang Zaigui, known as the leader of the atmosphere group. He is usually an auxiliary police officer in the county town, and after work, he will appear on the court, using a simple local accent to shout at the sidelines and stimulate the emotions of the audience on site.
Walking on the streets of Rongjiang County, it is also common to encounter players from various villages. After taking off their jerseys on the field, they were renovation workers, barbecue chefs, noodle shop owners, and college students.
Yang Bing, born in 1985, works at the Construction Bank of Tianzhu County and returns to Rongjiang every weekend to participate in football match commentary. He is one of the organizers of the "Village Super League", a part-time on-site game commentator, and also the leader and youth training coach of the Kouzhai Village football team.
Yang Bing, a part-time commentator at the village supermarket, is stirring up the atmosphere on the stage. Photo by Wang Qian
The population is 385000, and nearly 50000 people can play football, according to the official data provided by Rongjiang. Coming here, you will find that this number is not overly exaggerated. There are many football enthusiasts like Yang Bing in the county, with over 1000 registered players in the county football association and more than 40 amateur football teams for the masses.
Cultivating the power of the younger generation is also a tradition. Yang Bing organized a youth training program in Kouzhai Village for nearly 10 years, and any child who loves football can participate. The team provided money to buy clothes and sneakers for the children. College students who are studying outside should voluntarily take elementary school students to play football when they return home during the holiday.
Yang Bing, who has been playing football since middle school, remembers that more than 20 years ago, there was a village team competition in Rongjiang.
In the summer of the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, football players from Kouzhai Village dug a simple football field across the river sand dam from the village with hoes and sickles for over a month. Although there are still many stones and weeds on the field, the team has their own home ground.
The sports stadium hosting the "Village Super League" was flooded twice, and in order to return to the stadium as soon as possible, football enthusiasts in the county took the initiative to clean up the mud together. Now, as one of the first national county-level football typical counties selected in 2021, Rongjiang has 25 football fields throughout the county, and there are 14 football fields in a single county town.
In Taijiang County, basketball courts also have a long history. Among the houses of several villagers in Taipan Village, the only remaining white line on the ground vaguely reveals the bustle and noise of the old stadium.
In 2016, the new basketball court in Taipan Village was completed. Since that year, Taipan Village has been utilizing subsidies at all levels and applying for project funds through "one matter, one discussion" every year. The villagers have been working hard to continuously repair the basketball court on the original basis, gradually transforming it into its current appearance.
After the "Village BA" became popular last year, new lighting lights were erected by the basketball court, the steps extended upwards, guardrails were installed, and the steps were also painted with light blue new paint. In order to keep the stadium environment clean, Taipan Village has also hired many villagers to clean the stadium every day. Photo by Wang Qian
A local consensus is that the village contest can last for many years because of the spontaneous organization and participation of villagers year after year, as well as its "local flavor".
From the earliest years to the present, basketball games have been spontaneously raised by villagers, with those who have the ability to spend thousands of yuan, and even those with limited resources can spend hundreds or tens of yuan. The game funds are used to make prizes for the winning team. In the early years, the prizes for the game were flags and jerseys. Later, when conditions improved, the funds raised were also used as living allowances for various teams. The prizes were also transformed into agricultural products such as Taijiang carp, sturgeon, and duck.
The "village super" also has a local flavor. During the knockout period, each winning team will be rewarded with two pig feet. The final winners of the competition will be Little Yellow Bull, Black Pig and Tashi Xiangyang.
Traffic breakthrough
On a "Super Saturday", the staff of the "Village Super" new media team in Rongjiang County will produce at least 50 short videos.
Inside the sports stadium, more than ten new media center leaders and village spokespersons from various townships in Rongjiang County serve as photographers, guarding different locations. Someone is responsible for capturing the crucial moment of the goal, someone must seize the moment when the cheerleading team enters the field, and someone is responsible for capturing footage that matches the theme on special dates.
In the office under the stadium stands, four or five editors sit in a row, filtering through a continuous stream of materials in the WeChat group, and editing them into short videos of more than ten seconds.
On social media, short videos related to "village supermarkets" often have over 100000 views, tens of thousands of likes and comments, and these videos may become the next "shell" to ignite the Rongjiang River.
In addition to the crowds on the field, a single data can also indirectly reflect the popularity of "village supermarkets". Up to now, on the Internet platform, the browsing volume related to "village supermarket" has exceeded 30 billion.
In an interview, Xu Bo, the county mayor of Rongjiang County, said, "On this day, Rongjiang has been waiting for a long time." In the eyes of many people in Rongjiang, the emergence of "village supermarkets" may seem accidental, but in fact, it is also inevitable.
As a former key county for national poverty alleviation and development, and one of the 52 counties under the supervision of the Leading Group for Poverty Alleviation and Development under the State Council, Rongjiang County is located in the "two mountains" area with the largest poverty surface and deepest poverty level in southeastern Guizhou. It is now one of the first key counties for rural revitalization in the country.
"We have been exploring how to leverage our comparative advantages in Rongjiang and achieve a strategic breakthrough," Rongjiang County Mayor Xu Bo said in a media interview.
What many people are unaware of is that before the "Village Super" became popular, Rongjiang made five attempts to break through, including bullfighting events, Dong New Year's Basketball Invitational Tournament, Miao Guzang Festival, half marathon competition+Sanbao Dong Village "Sama Festival" folk sacrificial activities, and rural basketball exchange competitions, all of which were just "temporary excitement" and had limited influence.
Since 2022, Chen Yinzhi, who has been transferred to work in the new media special class, has hardly ever had weekends. The county holds new media check-in activities every week, taking turns to introduce the industries of Rongjiang. Over 50 events have been held.
Some civil servants in Rongjiang County still remember the urgency of the county party committee and government to "leave the circle". A county-level leader spoke at a closed door meeting at the beginning of this year, "If we haven't made it out of the circle in the first half of the year, it means our work ability is not good. I will be the first to resign!"
During this year's Spring Festival, the football leagues of 8 villages in Chejiang Sanbao Dongzhai attracted a small amount of attention in the local area. For the first time, a media outlet referred to the Rongjiang Rural Football League as the "Village Super League" by referring to naming rules such as the "English Premier League" and "Chinese Super League" in their reports. "Yang Yajiang, one of the planners of the 'Village Super League' and Vice Chairman of the Rongjiang County Football Association, said, 'This attempt has shown us hope.'"
On the afternoon of July 15th, teams from Yuezhai Village and Liubaitang Village were fiercely competing in the "Village Super" competition. Photo by Wang Qian
The strong football atmosphere and the already valued new media practices in the local area seem to have laid a solid foundation for the emergence of the "Village Super League".
In November 2021, Rongjiang County established a new media e-commerce industrial park. The reporter saw a prominent "battle timing sign" hanging in the conference room of the industrial park. The number "12800" above refers to the number of village spokespersons in Rongjiang County, which means that the county has incubated more than 10000 short video accounts. A local We Media blogger who has more than 9000 fans on the Tiktok platform told reporters that in 2022, he will participate in five or six short video trainings every month, "learning how to shoot videos, how to edit and how to publish to become popular."
"Football matches are played every year, so why can they become popular all over the internet this year? This is also a manifestation of the comprehensive empowerment of new media. Without the means of new media, others may not know how strong our football culture is here, nor what delicious and fun things we have here." Chen Yinzhi said.
Compared to the early preparations in Rongjiang County, the popularity of village BA is more like an unexpected sky drop in traffic. No one in Taipan Village, including Zhang De, would have thought that this basketball game, which has been passed down from generation to generation, would sweep across the Internet in just a few days.
At first, a 4-minute, 12 second basketball game video became popular on short video platforms. This was taken by a photographer from Guiyang in July 2022 at the "Eating New Festival" basketball game. The game is played from day till night, with street lights on. The players on the field compete fiercely, and the surrounding spectators are fully seated, layer by layer surrounding the stadium into an ocean of crowds.
On the day when the video blew up traffic on the Internet, Zhang De's college classmate called him, and he knew that the basketball game in Taipan Village was on fire. On the third day of the video's popularity, a large number of media and tourists from other places flocked to the scene. Under the crowd, the "rural ball" that was originally hidden in the mountains was given the title of "village BA" by netizens, and began to appear frequently in the sight of netizens across the country. "Of course, the village is happy," Zhang De said. "Since the game has become popular, everyone hopes to do better."
The province also took advantage of the situation and held the final of the first "Beautiful Countryside" basketball tournament in Taipan Village. Taijiang County also hopes that the fire of "Village BA" will become more prosperous. With the support, the infrastructure of Taipan Village has been improved. A row of toilets have been built outside the stadium, and a parking lot has been added. The village is covered with 5G network, which can meet the needs of on-site media and audiences for filming and live streaming.
After leaving the circle
After the "Village Super League" became popular, there were always voices in the video comment section that compared the village Super League players to professional players, and even an Argentine club approached a Chinese agent to express their hope of coming to Rongjiang to play. For their own football skills, Yang Bing has a clear understanding, "We are at the amateur level. Playing football is for the sake of happiness and the honor of the village."
On July 15th, Chinese football "Golden Whistle" Sun Baojie came to Rongjiang to serve as the main referee for the village Super League. However, some netizens who watched the live broadcast did not buy it. "It's not that Teacher Sun is bad, it's that we don't want any professionals to intervene in the village Super League!"
Maintaining pure local characteristics is not only the expectation of the outside world for the village, but also the common aspiration of football enthusiasts in Rongjiang. "Village Super allows us to stay in the 'village' and continue to maintain it in version 1.0. Pure is what makes more people love it," said Yang Bing.
The unexpected traffic and attention also mean unprecedented challenges for platform players.
The owner of the Overseas Chinese Hotel, located several tens of meters away from the entrance of the stadium, noticed that customers had significantly more accents from other places, and many people emphasized "not eating spicy food" when ordering.
During holidays, the stadium in front of the village committee receives at least 3000 people checking in, and sometimes more than 5000 people. The villagers concluded that there may be more out of town licenses seen in a Taipan village than in a county town.
The on-site audience of "Village BA" is concentrating on watching the competition. Photo by Wang Qian
The villagers of Taipan Village also had a heated argument about what to do next for the basketball game.
In Taipan Village, whenever there is a major event, the village committee will convene a courtyard meeting with the villagers, listen to their opinions, and then raise their hands to vote. On August 23rd last year, at the courtyard meeting in Taipan Village, villagers gathered again. There were many concerns about the renovation of the stadium, such as whether to add seats to the stands and set up seats? Someone suggested that tickets for the basketball game be charged or not? Is it necessary to set up a guest seat as guests continue to arrive?
A veteran player in his 80s in the village stood up and firmly opposed the collection of tickets, "otherwise it would break years of tradition and rules.". This has received the support of the majority of villagers.
Finally, everyone reached an agreement: the village BA will not charge tickets or set up spectator stands, in order to prevent the audience from distancing themselves from the game.
Recently, the village committee is still discussing the issue of charging hygiene fees for stalls on the street during the competition, but everyone is uncertain whether it will face opposition from the villagers. There are more plans in the village, and they want to create a snack street outside the stadium. This means that they need to negotiate and coordinate with the original non catering businesses to relocate to a unified area, which is also not an easy task.
On July 16th, at the village BA competition site in Taipan Village. Photo by Zhang Lingyun
Whether it is "village supermarkets" or "village BAs", the most tested aspect of these rural IPs after they become popular is their local rapid response and micro governance capabilities.
Faced with huge traffic, the government department of Rongjiang County has planned free booths on the outdoor space of the sports hall, creating a "village super night market". Due to the large number of people setting up stalls, the number of stalls has increased from over 300 at the beginning to over 500, and now to over 4000. Every weekend, parking spaces throughout the county are open for free.
As the final of the "Village Super League" approached, on July 28th, the Spiritual Civilization Office of Rongjiang County urgently issued an initiative to all residents of the county to "watch live broadcasts at home and give seats to guests". Multiple large screen live streaming points have been set up in the county town to serve local fans. The proposal states, "Leave seats for more guests who come from afar, allowing more tourists to experience the unique charm of the village supermarket firsthand.".
After the hotel was fully booked, many villagers shouted on short videos, inviting tourists to stay at home for free. Many merchants claimed that they not only did not increase prices, but also offered discounts to tourists.
Due to the complexity of personnel, more requirements have been put forward for the competition in terms of safety and other details.
In Taipan Village, villagers signed a "Family Safety Responsibility Commitment Letter during the" Village BA "Competition," which stated that "they are not allowed to provide their own houses to tourists or spectators for upstairs visits to avoid collapse incidents."
Like "Village Super", this year's "Village BA" is equipped with security personnel and screening facilities at the entrance of the competition venue. Tourists need to present their ID cards or scan codes to enter information before entering.
Li Wenpeng, Director of the Sports Center of Taijiang County Sports and Tourism Bureau, told reporters that the county only provides support in terms of security for the "Village BA" competition, and the specific operation of the competition is still fully entrusted to the villagers of Taipan Village, in order to maintain the original flavor of the competition.
Zhang Pengcheng, a doctor from the Taipan Township Health Center, told reporters that in the past, only the ball games guaranteed by the township health center were needed. Now, the county hospitals have also increased their support forces. Every day at the competition venue, three doctors and three nurses are equipped both inside and outside the stadium to ensure the health of players and spectators at all times.
On days without scheduling, they are also spectators. On an afternoon waiting for the start of the game, Zhang Pengcheng on the sidelines suddenly remembered that during the "New Food Festival" a few years ago, besides basketball matches, he could also watch bullfighting matches and sing mountain songs.
He occasionally silently thinks, when can these equally exciting traditional activities be resumed?
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