Guiyang, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Since the beginning of this year, thanks to the novel rules of the game, the joyful atmosphere of the game, and the successive events, the "aunt basketball" created by the women of ethnic minorities in Leishan County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province, has attracted a lot of attention. So far, the topic has been viewed by about 5 billion people on the whole web.
The reporter has been to the local area twice to interview the origin and development of "aunt basketball". During the period, Shi Fang, director of the Leishan County Sports Management Center, and others interpreted that "aunt basketball" enriched the lives of ethnic minority women, brought them self-confidence and happiness, and also provided them with a platform and opportunity to show themselves and make friends.
In the development of "Aunt Basketball", some ethnic minority women have completed the identity transformation from participants to promoters.
Wu Zhenli, a Miao girl, is a native of Langde Town, Leishan County, and has a strong basketball atmosphere in the village, and she began to contact basketball when she was in the third or fourth grade of primary school. After graduating from university in 2023, Wu Zhenli returned to her hometown and is currently a self-media blogger. Open the social media accounts she runs with her friends, and you can see many videos of them participating in the "aunt" basketball game.
"About 10 years ago, 'aunt basketball' began to be played in the village." Wu Zhenli said that she also started to play "aunt basketball" in the past two years, and took it as one of the creative themes of her self-media account, hoping to let more people understand the characteristic culture of her hometown. "'Auntie Basketball' looks like a simple rule, but it's actually very tiring to play, but it's also very fun."
During the Spring Festival this year, Xijiang Village, Leishan County, spontaneously held an "Auntie" basketball game, attracting 75 villages in the county to sign up for the competition. Yang Shengqin, the women's director of Xijiang Village, participated in the preparation of the event, and she is also a basketball enthusiast who has been playing basketball since her first year of junior high school. Yang Shengqin said that Xijiang Village began to hold the village's "aunt" basketball game in 2017, and "basketball games are played every festival, and some women who don't know how to play basketball say they want to participate in it too."
Yang Ting, the women's director of Zhangpi Village, Datang Town, Leishan County, has also participated in the preparation of the village's "aunt" basketball game many times. Every festival, she will notify the women in the village and organize everyone to sign up for the competition. "There are three natural villages in our village, and if there are few people who participate, the village will be used as a unit, and if there are many people, the team will be formed as a family unit." Yang Ting said that neighboring villages would stagger the time of the event so that they could invite each other to participate, which promoted communication between them.
Ren Fuzhi, a villager from Zhangpi Village, has been playing "aunt basketball" for more than 10 years, and she and her family have moved to live in Leishan County many years ago. In her spare time, she would accompany her children to play ball on the court. When the village hosts basketball games, she rushes back to participate, about three or four times a year. In her view, "aunt basketball" has become a kind of bond between the villagers and strengthens everyone's cohesion.
Yang Shengqin introduced that in the process of participating in the "aunt" basketball game, some women who originally did not know how to play began to contact and understand basketball, and even learned some basketball skills and could play a little regular basketball game.
"It's very happy to see that 'Auntie Basketball' has received so much attention and love from so many people." Yang Ting said.