A screenshot of the "Village BA" live streaming platforms. Source:Sina.com

Recently, the rural basketball game, "Village BA," in Southwest China's Guizhou Province, has attracted widespread attention across the country because of its warm atmosphere. Since the game was held by local villagers in Taipan village and most players came from villages, the game was affectionately known as "Village BA," termed after "NBA."

Villagers held the basketball game to celebrate the local "Chixin" Festival, a traditional farming festival of ethnic minorities in southern China to celebrate a good harvest in early autumn and pray for another in the coming year. The popularity of the event even overcame the hottest days of the summer. It not only attracted people from all over the country to cheer for the players, but also 26 official accounts to broadcast the event simultaneously, with a cumulative audience of more than 100 million. "The closest thing to the NBA in Asia is not the CBA, but the 'VBA.'" netizens said.

Interestingly, the game's live commentator switched to using Putonghua, Guizhou dialect, and Hmong, to commentate the game. During halftime, there were also amazing ethnic dance shows, and the prize for the winners of the game was agricultural products, which all highlighted the local culture and equipped the game with "village characteristics." 

Yao Ming, chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, said in an interview that "Village BA" can become widely known because it is not simply a basketball game, but a grand event gathering all neighboring villagers around the basketball court to enjoy the fun. The 27 games in four days attracted over 100,000 people to watch, and the cumulative number of webcast viewers exceeded 100 million.

"I took part in a similar rural basketball game in Southeast China in my teen," said Yao. "This kind of game has been developed for decades, showing basketball is a sport with extensive participation." Yao also desires to attend the event if possible and experience the warm atmosphere there with villagers. He hopes the game will get better and help with the development of basketball in China.