1970-01-01 02:00:00
Wu Zhaizhi was one of dozens of locals who had their food stalls around the championship stadium. She is a farmer from Zhongcheng, the runner-up village. Throughout Cun Chao, she sold juices and fruits that she grows on her land. Zhaizhi normally produces for the family’s own consumption and takes care of the children. “We really didn’t think that Cun Chao would become so popular. Friends from different places have helped us a lot in business, bringing important benefits to Rongjiang,” Zhaizhi told the Brazil in fact.
Young Wang Guiying is a local communicator and has covered the entire event since it began on May 13. “Cun Chao really stimulated our local economy. Many residents, for example, used to leave their hometowns to work. But thanks to this platform and these activities, many people are able to return to work in their hometowns,” says Guiying.
Rongjiang is one of the last nine counties in China to be removed from the country’s poverty list in 2020. One of the elements that guided the campaign that lifted 100 million people out of poverty in 8 years, from 2012 to 2020, was how ensure that people stay out of poverty.
The promotion of sports and rural tourism is one of the responses that China has been implementing in relation to this challenge. Connectivity both digitally and in transport is another element, especially in a province like Guizhou, the only one in the country without plains, with more than 90% of its territory covered by mountains and hills. From 2012 to 2021, the province’s expressway mileage tripled from 2,630 km to 8,010 km. According to data from the provincial government, more than US$ 100 billion was invested in transport between 2017 and 2022, almost three times more than the investment from 1978 to 2012. Recent financing has enabled the start of 69 highway projects.
On the other hand, in 2017 Guizhou reached 100% fiber optic broadband coverage and 4G network in all administrative villages. In 2022, online retail sales in rural areas of the country grew by 3.6%, amounting to 2.17 trillion yuan (R$ 1.4 trillion), according to the Ministry of Commerce.
By the end of 2022, China had set up 990 county delivery centers and 278,000 village post offices, connecting 95% of the country’s administrative settlements with express delivery services, according to data from the State Post Office.
Connectivity was one of the factors that made Cun Chao “viral”, according to Li Xiaoming, editor of the Baidu application, who was part of the organization of the championship. “On our platform, we have a large amount of exciting Cun Chao videos submitted by users, as well as accounts of players and teams participating in the league; I think the internet managed to break geographic limitations and helped different people to experience the different aspects of Cun Chao”, opines Xiaoming.
As with all the weekends it was played, the final of the Super League of Povoados featured ceremonies that represent the ethnic diversity of the region, including a presentation with 600 women of different ethnicities. More than 83% of Rongjiang’s population belongs to 15 ethnic groups, including Miao and Dong.
The final match was practically set, Zhongcheng was winning by 2-1, when a few minutes before it ended, the Chejiang team scored the equalizing goal. To add even more emotion to the end of the championship, the game went to penalties, where the residents of Chejiang finally became champions.
“It has been a long and difficult journey, but now we have won the championship. I am proud, happy and delighted. From being a farmer to winning the championship. I am extremely happy, ”he told the Brazil in factLi Yabin, peasant and now Cun Chao champion with his Chejiang village team.
#small #rural #soccer #championship #conquered #China