This midsummer, it's surprisingly hot.
Taipan Village, Guizhou, is more than 200 kilometers away from the provincial capital Guiyang. Even in the heat, there are still many people who get together because of basketball, their hearts love.
At nightfall, villagers take benches to the court, and various snack and drink stalls are lined up on both sides of the road. The lights converge on the basketball court with red and green colors, the shouts break through the silence of the night sky, and a village basketball game has become the "village BA" spread by hundreds of millions of netizens.
Image source: Screenshot of the video of the interviewee
Although I watched the live broadcast of the match, I was still shocked after accepting the video call invitation of the local villagers.
In front of the camera, a little boy about five or six years old waved a fluorescent balloon to cheer; Beside him, several teenagers squatted in the stands and looked intently at the court; Everyone talked about the situation on the field from time to time...
For a time, I couldn't help but feel the purity of local basketball. In fact, in Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province, many village basketball games are like this.
"Eat New Season" and play basketballThe prizes of the competition, scalpers and fragrant pigs, were hotly discussed, praised by Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, and were full of hot scenes... In the past period, the Taipan Village Basketball Tournament has become the talk of countless netizens.
As everyone knows, "Village BA" is the result of countless generations of inheritance.
Image source: Zhao Lijian overseas social media screenshot
"According to the county's logbook, the history of hosting basketball games in Taipan Village dates back to 1940." Zhang Shoushuang, secretary of the party branch of Taipan Village, explained the fate of the village and basketball.
According to the 90-year-old man in the village, they had a ball game when they were young. Carefully calculated, the "village BA" is longer than the NBA league on the other side of the ocean.
In Taipan Village, starting from the sixth day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar every year, the annual "Eating New Festival" is held for about 2 weeks, with the beautiful meaning of praying for a good harvest, and the villagers of the eight villages gather here. "For as long as I can remember, the atmosphere of 'eating new festivals' has been very hot every year." Zhang Shoushuang said.
Basketball is perhaps the most popular sport among young people.
The picture shows Wang Zaigui. Courtesy of respondents
Wang Zaigui, 26 years old, has dark skin and looks very mature. Locals affectionately call him: the atmosphere group leader.
He works in the county seat on weekdays and has been working as a narrator in Taipan Village since 2016. During the "Eat New Festival" competition, Wang Zaigui drove straight to the Table Pan Stadium after work, and rested in the car when he was tired.
In his words, commentary is also a kind of basketball culture, using the local language to mobilize the audience to watch the atmosphere.
"When I watch the ball, I will lead everyone to make a 'wu' sound together. This is a unique way for our local basketball to cheer, the players are more excited to hear it, and the audience will shout harder. Wang Zaigui introduced.
Image source: Courtesy of the interviewee
When asked about the reason for this year's fire, many locals can't say anything. Because in their opinion, the basketball atmosphere there has always been like this.
As the popularity continued to rise, the semi-final of the Guizhou "Beautiful Countryside" basketball league Qiandongnan Prefecture also came to Taipan Village, and countless cameras were set up on the sidelines, and the praise of "Village BA" was called.
Bring pots and pans to cheer upIn the southeastern region of Qiandong, in Taipan Village, what is hotter than the weather is the locals' enthusiasm for basketball.
When the "Eat New Festival" came, tens of thousands of villagers surrounded the basketball court in the center, and the spectator stands from high to low were always full, giving people a shock from the bottom of their hearts.
"The original basketball frame and basketball rack were simple, the venue was muddy, and the current court was only completed in 2016." Talking about the construction of the stadium, Zhang Shoushuang still has a fresh memory. The spectator stands, built according to the topography, were renovated in 2018 to increase the number of spectators, "which can now accommodate more than 10,000 people," Zhang Shoushuang said.
Image source: Courtesy of the interviewee
As for how enthusiastic the audience will be when watching the game, Zhang Shoushuang gave a vivid example, "Many people will bring benches to occupy the seats in advance. After the game starts, as soon as you leave your position, or even turn around, there may be no seats. He introduced with a smile.
An elderly man over ninety years old came to watch the game on the spot; Spectators from Hunan drove over to watch the ball game; Fans standing on the slope, taking off their shoes and putting them on their hands, staring at the pitch in a half-kneeling position... In Taipan Village, where "Eating New Festival" is held, such scenes are very common.
Wen Wu, a villager from Cotton Village in Taipan Township, is also quite touched by this, "where there is a competition, go to see it", he also witnessed the grand situation of this year's "Village BA".
Image source: Courtesy of the interviewee
In his words, when the "Eat New Festival" holds a basketball game, it is normal for villagers to climb the ladder to watch the game. "When cheering, some people come directly with pots and pans, and some people hold up banners and signs to refuel." Whenever a goal appears, there is a sound of iron hitting the sidelines.
During the intermission, the local Miao family brothers and sisters will sing Miao songs and dance Miao dances, and the audience can carry home local pork legs and cat slope watermelon prizes when they shoot.
The "big prizes" such as Huangping Yellow Cattle and Rongjiang Fragrant Sheep, which everyone talks about, are spontaneously donated by villagers and farmers, "In the past, these things were hidden in the deep boudoir, but now they are known through basketball games." Wang Zaigui said.
At the scene, many people could only watch the game on their mobile phones because they were late. But even so, they still did not want to go back, moving stools to sit behind the crowd, listening to the shouts of the scene and watching the game live.
This is the epitome of the popularity of "Village BA".
The picture shows the 2017 Taipan Village "Eat New Festival" competition. Courtesy of respondents
"Watched for three days and three nights"Among many local people, the "dawn culture" is very famous, as the name suggests, that is, the game will be played until dawn.
This year's "Eat New Festival" basketball game, there are 176 basketball teams participating, the increase in the number of games has made the schedule more intensive.
"I watched it for almost three days and three nights. During the day, I went home to sleep for a while and ran over to watch the game. Recalling the scene when watching the competition this year's "Eat New Festival", Wen Wu was still a little excited.
In an interview, Wen Wu happened to be watching the game on the sidelines of the court. He introduced that different villages in Taipan Township have their own traditional festivals, and in addition to the "Eating New Festival", there are also "July and a Half" and "Walking Relatives Festival".
According to Zhang Shoushuang, if there are a large number of teams or when there is a game for the championship and runner-up, the basketball game will last for a long time. "The one that took the longest time went from the first morning to the early morning of the next day." He recalled.
The picture shows the 2017 Taipan Village "Eat New Festival" competition. Courtesy of respondents
On weekdays, although there are no large-scale competitions in the basketball courts of Taipan Township, they are still lively.
"Villagers farm during the day and come to the stadium after dinner in the evening." Zhang Shoushuang introduced the daily life of many villagers in Taipan Village.
As a villager in Cotton Village, Wen Wu is a regular visitor on the court on weekdays. "Which team loses will buy water for everyone to drink," he said with a smile, adding that there will never be less people on the pitch.
The picture shows Liao Xingping directing the refereeing game. Courtesy of respondents
Young people coming homeEvery year, when "eating the new festival", many young people who go out to work will take more than ten days off to return to their hometowns because of basketball. "They came back home from outside on leave to organize the tournament spontaneously." Zhang Shoushuang was impressed by this.
Liao Xingping is one of many young people. After graduating from Liupanshui Normal College, a local college, Liao Xingping continued his undergraduate physical education major and began teaching elementary school students to play basketball.
Back in his hometown and encountering the "Eating New Festival", he has one more identity, the referee.
The picture shows Liao Xingping directing the refereeing game. Courtesy of respondents
"I took my basketball referee card in college, and I usually work in Carey, and when I have time, I will go over and blow off the game." In his opinion, the atmosphere of the basketball game in the village is hot, and the physical confrontation is strong, comparable to the intensity of the CBA playoffs.
As a referee, he also enjoys refereeing in this atmosphere, "In the group stage, he will blow up to three games in a row. ”
The local fiery basketball culture has had a subtle impact on Liao Xingping, who loves basketball and is eager to improve his level of refereeing in the future and blow off more professional events.
Image source: Screenshot of the video of the interviewee
"The basketball culture of the taiwan plate is passed down in the form of a baton, and we as the younger generation should take up this baton."
Behind the "breaking circle" of "Village BA" is the revitalization of village basketball. When it comes to future planning, Zhang Shoushuang and Liao Xingping both mentioned this sentence: let fans see that the game is getting better and better every year.
When the countryside and basketball collide with the spark, there, there is everyone's love for basketball, there is a fusion of dreams and reality, which is the distant place in the eyes of many Chinese basketball people.
As night fell, the villagers gathered again on the "net red" basketball court, waiting for the first goal to arrive.
Chinese basketball is also waiting for the emergence of more "phenomenon-level" village basketball games.
(China News Network)