People watch a "Village Super League" football match between the team of Fenghuang Village and the team of Xinzhong Village in Rongjiang County of southwest China's Guizhou Province, on June 9, 2023.  Photo: Xinhua

The Village Super Football League, or the "Cunchao" in Putonghua, in Rongjiang county, Southwest China's Guizhou Province came to the end on Saturday night. The grass-roots sport tournament lasted for nearly three months drawing attention across the country and boosting the local economy in the region.

During each weekend, in the sports facility in Rongjiang county was crowded by football fans from all over China as the most football games. An owner of a snack stall near the football venue surnamed Luo said she can earn about 700 ($111.91) to 800 yuan of income each day during the weekend, and her snack available for only five yuan each, China Media Group (CMG) reported.

Since the beginning of the "Cunchao," the government of Rongjiang county set aside a special area for night time economy, including free stalls areas for barbecue, snacks and cold drinks, which became another local popular venue following football field.

During July 1 to 16, Rongjiang county recorded a total of 921,200 inbound visits, generating income of 1.08 billion yuan. Various local traditional agricultural and textile products also gained huge popularity due to the football tournament, and the online and offline sales surpassed 20 million yuan, according to the report.

The economy in Taijiang county also in Guizhou province was ignited by a local grass-root basketball tournament held in Taipan village under the county started on July 15. CMG reported that basketball related products are the best sellers among local souvenirs stores, generating 650,000 yuan worth sales over four months.

Taijiang's hospitality sector was also directly boosted by tourists. Local officials said local hotel occupancy has been over 80 percent since July. From July 2022 to present, Taijiang has received about 2 million tourists and generated 2.3 billion yuan in tourism income, the CMG said.

Local governments of the two counties also ramped up promotion for local production by sponsoring the prize of the sports games.

A yellow cow, three black haired pigs and three goats were awarded to the winner of the first place, second place and third place of the "Cunchao" tournament, respectively. All the livestock were locally raised, China News Agency reported. Enterprises in Taipan village sponsored the game with rice, pork and fish, which sparked hot discussion among Chinese netizens.

Global Times