Illustration: Liu Xidan/GT

Tifo is the phenomenon whereby supporters of a sports team make a visual display of any choreographed sign or banner in the stands of a stadium. 

In recent months, Chinese Super League (CSL) clubs have witnessed a remarkable surge in tifo displays - grand, visually striking banners unfurled by fans to animate the stands. 

What began as sporadic showcases have turned into a defining feature of domestic stadium culture, merging civic identity with sports spectacle.

At the Huanglong Stadium in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, on Saturday night, over 20,000 fans used green and white plastic boards to form a striking tifo with "Zhejiang" in bold letters across the east stand of the stadium ahead of Zhejiang FC's home match against Shanghai Shenhua. Local media reported that it is the biggest tifo to date in the club's history.

On Tuesday, Chengdu Rongcheng saw one of the most spectacular tifos in Chinese football history ahead of the club's 3-0 triumph over Bangkok United in the Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) Playoff. 

Fans of the CSL club assembled a colossal hand-painted tifo covering approximately 3,700 square meters highlighted by a giant Sanxingdui bronze mask, making a rich visual tying ancient civilization of Southwest China's Sichuan Province to present-day sports ambition.

Simultaneously, fans in the east and south stands held up signs with the club crest, culminating in a sweeping stadium-wide tifo spectacle. The atmosphere reached fever pitch as fans chanted "Chengdu, rise up" in the local dialect to celebrate the club's first-ever victory in an AFC competition and the unfolding of their continental journey.

The growing enthusiasm toward full-stadium tifos started in July at the Workers' Stadium in Beijing. During Beijing Guoan's marquee clash against Shenhua on July 19, the fanbase orchestrated a massive "Eight-Armed Ne Zha" motif, enveloping the northern stand with a show worthy of mythic resonance. 

The design incorporated the iconic visuals of Beijing - such as the city wall gates and the phrase "Beijing City" - and shot stadium attendance to record highs. A total of 62,291 supporters packed the Workers' Stadium, setting a new season-high for the league and underscoring the communal enthusiasm infused by the tifo display.

Cultural revival through tifos is hardly unique. At a packed Shanghai Stadium on August 9, Shenhua's supporters executed a massive tifo that touched the east and north stands, melding the club's classic and modern crests and unfurling a giant centerpiece while card mosaics rippled around it.

In Dalian, Northeast China's Liao­ning Province, tifos have often celebrated the city's maritime heritage. At Dalian's home ground Suoyuwan Stadium, fans crafted several cinematic strip-style tifos reflecting the rich historical tapestry of Dalian since the team is playing their maiden CSL season. The animation-like sequence that used elements such as sailing ships with the typical sea-blue color placard transformed the stands into a moving cultural exhibit. 

Such creations illustrate how tifos can transcend mere decoration to become immersive narratives of urban identity. The emotional and logistical investment required for these displays is nothing short of extraordinary. 

A recent feature explains that tifos represent a labor-intensive endeavor involving weeks of preparation and significant resources, yet their time on display is fleeting - often lasting a couple of minutes before the kick off. 

More broadly, these tifos illustrate how stadiums have become canvases for emotional expression and identity-building. They have begun to proliferate across CSL arenas as fans seek to channel passion and craft ideal stand atmospheres, evolving beyond cold banners into heartfelt declarations. 

If there is a through-line, it is that Chinese tifos are evolving from "decoration" to "declaration." In an era when matchday feels increasingly packaged, tifos re-localize the product. They make the case that a club's meaning is co-written by its people and its location, not just by its players.

The renaissance of tifos in CSL also signals a maturation of fan identity and shared civic pride. Such testimonials reveal how a tifo is more than a visual spectacle - it is a vessel for community bonding and emotional belonging. 

Moreover, tifos are increasingly seen as emotional boosters, not just for fans, but for the teams themselves. The psychological impact - projecting solidarity, spurring performance - is a crucial dimension to this cultural phenomenon.

With the successful execution of tifos in the CSL, it could also be possible for more tifos to appear in domestic amateur football matches such as the recently popular Jiangsu City Football League in East China's Jiangsu Province.

These tifos evoke heritage, articulate emotion and anchor local identity, fueling not just team spirit but stadium economies, civic connection and cultural dialogue. Fans invest time, creativity and resources to craft movements that resonate beyond 90 minutes. The tifo surge in the CSL is more than a decorative flourish; it's a living bridge between sports and culture. 

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. life@globaltimes.com.cn