Sport holds court in Guizhou as rural exercise project nears completion

It came as a surprise to Luo Chuancheng, a 15-year-old middle school student, that the laying of a basketball court would be completed in his village.

Luo lives in a mountainous village called Piaozhai, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Southwest China's Guizhou province. He attends school in a town which is about a 20-minute drive from his village.

"I love playing basketball. Every time I went back to my village at the weekend or on holiday, I just wished there would be a basketball court," Luo says, adding that about four years ago the village's one court, which belonged to its only primary school, was closed as it had become old and unsafe for the students.

"We always wanted to build a new court, but had to give up just because we did not get funds and there was no open space," says Wu Shike, the Party secretary of the village.

He emphasizes that this year, with the support of the provincial sports bureau and the local governments, they finally tore down a collective barn and made room for the laying of the new court in August.

"The construction will be completed once we install a pair of basketball stands and two table tennis tables," Wu adds.

The village has a population of 2,121 residents, most of whom are from the Dong ethnic group, and they love recreational and sports activities such as singing, dancing and playing musical instruments.

Luo's mother, Chen Juhua, aged 51, is fond of square dance, and she has enjoyed partaking in the dance with other women in their household for more than 10 years.

"Over the years, we always wanted to take it outside, but we just couldn't as there was no more open space. Now we can dance on the court by taking turns with the basketball players," says Chen, with a smile on her face.

China initiated a rural resident bodybuilding project in 2006, which was aimed at helping every administrative village build and install sports facilities, mainly including a basketball court and two table tennis tables, for the rural residents to do exercise.

Jing Qiwei, director of the office of the provincial bureau for mass sports, says that by the end of 2019, Guizhou has helped more than ninety percent of its administrative villages, a total of 13,558, finish the work.

"Guizhou is determined to achieve full coverage of the project over all its administrative villages by the end of 2020," Jing says.

He adds that as the living standards of the rural residents have improved along with China's economic development in recent years, their demands for sports facilities has also increased, and from which they have benefited a lot.

Anshun city, located in the center of Guizhou, has so far achieved complete coverage of the project across its 909 administrative villages, which has helped tens of thousands of rural residents live a healthy and happy life.

With a population of 1,353 residents, Shangtoupu village finished the installation of a pair of basketball stands and two table tennis tables on its basketball court in 2019.

Wu Zezhong, the village Party secretary, says that the residents have garnered joy from participating in recreational and sports activities held on the court ever since.

"The residents spontaneously established square dances, local drum dances and local opera troupes, and many of them also have made a habit of playing basketball and table tennis," Wu says.

He explains that as the per capita net income of the village's residents rose from around 4,000 yuan ($599) in 2015 to more than 9,000 yuan in 2019, the residents are getting more interested in sports activities.

"When the residents were poor, they only cared about making a living, but as their lives improved, they turned their attention to recreational and sports activities," Wu adds.