"Village Super", "Village BA", "Village Song" Rural Hot Soil Release "Happiness Energy" Competition | BA | Energy
On June 20th, in Taipan Village, Taijiang County, Guizhou Province, ethnic minority compatriots participated in a shooting competition before the start of the National United States Rural Basketball Competition. Shen Jizhong
On June 23rd, a child watched the game at the "Village Super" stadium in Rongjiang, Guizhou. Shen Jizhong
The scene of the "Village Super" football match in Rongjiang, Guizhou, filmed on June 23rd. Shen Jizhong
On June 9th, players from Guizhou Open University football team and Rongjiang football representative team competed in a friendly match. Shen Jizhong
Journalists Observation
Editor's note
In the sports field, the fierce battle is raging, and the audience is roaring on the mountain, with a unique midfield performance. Screams, drumbeats, laughter, and joyful songs intertwine and gather, igniting a passionate and surging heat wave, fully unleashing the happiness of a happy life... Following the continuous fire of "Village BA", another phenomenal farmer competition "Village Super" is being held in Rongjiang County, adjacent to the origin of "Village BA" - Taijiang County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province. Along with the competition, there are also distinctive ancient intangible cultural heritage sites such as Dong ethnic songs that have gained popularity. All of this is exactly what rural revitalization should look like!
The spontaneous exploration of the people resonates with the policies of the Party and the state. After the upgrade of "Village BA" to the National Harmony and Beauty Rural Basketball Competition, recently, the General Administration of Sport of China, together with 11 other departments such as the Central Office of Spiritual Civilization Construction, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, and the National People's Committee, issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting Sports to Assist Rural Revitalization", and worked together to promote sports to assist rural revitalization.
Why did "Village BA", "Village Super", and "Village Song" become popular in the market? How can rural cultural and sports activities empower rural revitalization? The reporter takes you into colorful Guizhou and searches for answers with you.
"The ball is in!" The cheers echoed through the night sky of Rongjiang County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province, and the football feast for every fan - the "Village Super League" is currently underway. The stands were full of men, women, and people of all ages, rushing from all corners of the country and even from all corners of the world, filled with passionate shouts.
"This is the charm of pure football!" Sports commentator Han Qiaosheng, dressed in a wax dyed T-shirt and climbing a ladder to the live commentary platform, couldn't help but praise that Guizhou's "Village Super" is a football carnival deeply rooted in the soil!
Since last summer, the "Treasure Movement" rooted in Qiandongnan, such as "Village BA" and "Village Super", has shone brightly and been loved by the people of the whole country. Guizhou, once deeply impoverished, has embarked on the "Golden Avenue" of comprehensive rural revitalization with leaps and bounds.
Gather popularity, inject vitality, and stimulate the county economy... Through exciting mass cultural and sports activities, a new path of Chinese path to modernization development coordinated with material civilization and spiritual civilization is spreading in front of the world.
"Village Chao": Twisting into a force to summon back a group of people
"You are now a 'football star'!" When the reporter saw player Dong Yongheng, who has been consistently occupying the top spot on the top scorer list since the start of the 'Village Super League', he had changed his jersey and was busy in his own fan shop. Recently, the influx of tourists from various places attracted by the "Village Super" has made the business of the "Roll Powder King", which was already well-known in Rongjiang, even more popular.
"If you say I am a 'football star', then everyone in our team is like that," Dong Yongheng said with a smile. "I am surrounded by crouching tigers and hidden dragons, and scoring depends entirely on teammates passing the ball."
Farmers, teachers, restaurant owners, bank staff, electricity workers... The players of the loyal village football team come from various industries. It's football that brings them together, who are usually busy on their own. "When we played the game, not only did our neighbors and fellow villagers watch, but also the people of the whole country watched. Thinking about so many spectators, everyone was so excited that they were particularly dedicated to playing," Dong Yongheng said.
"Being able to spend time training and playing football together is not only because we have a strong love for football, but also because we have a deep football cultural tradition," Chejiang Ercun Football Team captain Shi Shibi told reporters. The football enlightenment of many "village super league" players comes from the spontaneous organization of village games and the participation of all villagers around them.
"In the early years, there were no standardized football fields in the county, and even there were not many regular fields," recalled Wei Linxing, 46. In 2002, he and several friends who liked football agreed to hold a game for the villagers. On the muddy riverbank, they leveled the land with shovels, and the villagers spontaneously came to clear away the stones and weeds. A tree stump is used as a door, and lime is used to draw lines, marking the beginning of a "riverside football game". Since then, it has become a beloved "reserved project" by everyone.
In 2020, Rongjiang County achieved poverty alleviation and hat removal. Nowadays, there are more than ten football fields in the county town, and there are more than 30 folk football teams in the county. There are over 1000 players registered with the county football association.
Wei Linxing not only became the coach of a "village super" team, but also worked with a group of old teammates to provide free training and coaching for more football loving children. "Now, with the 'celebrity' role models around us, the number of children signing up for weekend training is more than ten times higher than before," he said.
Dong Yongheng also calculated to attract more young reserve forces for the team: "The 'Village Super League' has brought such a large market, allowing many talented individuals with ideas and abilities to have a head start, and rural revitalization will be more vibrant."
"Village BA": Protecting the local culture and driving "double harvest"
Entering the "Village BA" basketball court located in Taipan Village, Taijiang County, the newly renovated changing rooms, bathrooms, media reception rooms, renovated public toilets, and expanded parking lots have increased from over 10000 to over 20000 audience seats... The newly renovated facilities of the court make it difficult to imagine that behind every lamp post, every floor stand, and every expansion and renovation, it is the result of collective decision-making by the villagers.
"Every time the village committee organizes a meeting, the courtyard is even more lively than the 'village BA'," said Pan Ju, a villager who has been a scorer in the village for nearly 30 years. Previously, it was the villagers who spontaneously raised funds and built their own sports fields. Now that the village is prosperous, the renovation of the stadium no longer requires everyone to pay for it themselves, but it is related to the village's BA, and even the smallest matter needs to be discussed together.
Stepping out of the court, the official offline experience store of "Village BA" attracts tourists with various products such as basketball, "Village Baby" cultural and creative dolls, and local products from Qiandongnan using Miao batik technology; Turn on your phone, and the popularity of short videos, news, travel guides, and more about "Village BA" remains high. According to statistics, during last year's "Village BA" summer basketball game alone, Taipan Township received over 500000 spectators and tourists, driving direct consumption of over 40 million yuan.
In January of this year, Cen Jianglong was elected as the director of the village committee by the villagers. This power forward, who once guarded the interior and organized attacks on the "Village BA" field, is now taking action outside the field to encourage more people to join this "game" of rural revitalization.
Cen Jianglong told reporters that in addition to insisting on providing basketball enthusiasts with a better viewing experience, Taipan Village is also actively exploring how to make good use of the "Village BA" brand and continuously enhance the endogenous driving force for development. The village collective has decided to use the income from various operations outside the venue during the competition to improve and enhance infrastructure, hygiene environment, village appearance, and gradually develop related industries such as tourism, homestays, and catering.
"We will uphold the local culture of 'Village BA', use 'Village BA' to drive a series of 'agricultural brand' sports events, and make the competitions a festival for the people. At the same time, we will explore the creation of a full industry chain of 'supporting tourism and industry with competitions', achieving both social and economic benefits," said Yang Dezhao, Deputy Secretary and County Mayor of Taijiang County.
"Village Song": Cultural Charm and Rural Vitality
The popularity of the competition also provides a good opportunity for spreading local culture. During the opening performance and break time of each competition of "Village BA" and "Village Super", the Dong ethnic song will be performed live, sparking a spectacular wave of "ten thousand people singing together".
On June 9th, at the 2023 Qiandongnan Ethnic Culture and Ecological Protection Zone 7th Dong Song Hundred Villages Singing Competition held in Liping County, a child dressed in traditional Dong costumes became the focus of the audience.
Off stage, the reporter met this 10-year-old "little singer" Wang Xianfeng. His family can sing Dong songs for three generations, but for the first time on stage, he didn't have any stage fright: "I like the songs of our Dong ethnic group, I want to sing them to more people."
"Eating for health and singing for heart", a millennium old song, has long been integrated into the cultural genes of the Dong family. Wu Pinxian, a representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage project Dong ethnic song at the age of 79, started learning to sing Dong songs at the age of five or six and has been singing for a lifetime. She has brought Da Singing to Beijing and abroad, and still insists on regular monthly classes for elementary and college students.
"Big songs should keep up with the times and make young people feel unique charm," said Wu Chenglong, the captain of the Huanggang Village Song Team in Shuangjiang Town, Liping County, who also led the team to participate in the competition. In 2018, the representative inheritor of the Dong ethnic song at the provincial level opened the "Yueye Dong Song School" in the village, providing free teaching and singing of Dong songs to villagers who are idle in the evening or have dropped out of school and are unemployed.
"On the basis of preserving the flavor, foreign instruments such as African drums and wooden guitars can also be added as accompaniment. When young people love big songs from the bottom of their hearts, inheritance is no longer a problem." Wu Chenglong said that there are now five to six dozen villagers who have been learning songs with him for a long time.
Following the "sparkling music like a clear spring", more Dong ethnic youth who love big songs return to their hometowns. "The transportation in the village is good, and good local wood can be made into furniture at the doorstep, making the market even more affordable." A few years ago, Pan Yuqiu, a villager from Xiaoguang Village, Panxi Town, Jianhe County, who returned from Guangdong to open a furniture factory, said, "Not only do we have more time to rehearse with everyone, represent our hometown, and sing on a larger stage, but we can also drive more villagers to find employment."
In recent years, through a series of comprehensive protection measures such as the "Hundred Villages Singing Competition", "100 Inheritance, Protection and Development Demonstration Villages", and "Digitalization of Traditional Classic Folk Songs in Hundred Villages", Qiandongnan Prefecture has basically achieved the goal of "having song teams in villages where Dong ethnic songs are widely distributed, and more than 80% of villagers can sing more than 10 traditional Dong ethnic songs and newly compiled Dong ethnic songs". In total, more than 100 outstanding Dong ethnic song backbone counselors and more than 1000 outstanding inheritors have been trained.
Nowadays, the cultural and tourism industry in Zhaoxing, Dimeng, Tang'an and other areas of Liping County in southeastern Guizhou has gathered nearly 100 Dong ethnic song teams, with nearly 2000 employees. Each team performs an average of 30 performances per year, with an average annual income of 2000 yuan per person. Wu Chenglong said, "The singing has attracted distinguished guests from all over the world, and the villages are filled with vitality and energy in the singing, which also shows young people the hope of rural revitalization."
