Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Editor's Note:

China's rural revitalization is often discussed in policies and statistics. What does it truly look like on the ground, especially in the eyes of foreign visitors? In this new series, "Village Walk," the Global Times invites foreign visitors who have explored China's villages firsthand to share their stories. Through their perspectives, we capture the quiet transformations, the rich and vibrant local cultures, the sustainable development of rural industries, and the vitality among rural communities. This is the first installment of the series.

Teams compete in front of raucous crowds; local women dress in traditional finery perform energetic dance routines. 

This is not a scene from common international basketball games, but CunBA, or Village Basketball Association, that hails from a small village in China. 

I've watched Australian Basketball Association games in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney; I've watched Chinese Basketball Association games in Zhongshan and Guangzhou. But CunBA, the amateur arena which has gained immense popularity across China, offered me another perspective to look into the country I have been living in for two decades.

It was late November 2024 when this really hit me. I was in a place that even I, with my extensive travels around China, had never heard of before that day, the city of Jinjiang, in East China's Fujian Province. 

I was there for the finals of the CunBA, in which Shaxi, a team from my adopted hometown of Zhongshan, was playing the local team in the grand final. 

Although the result was not the important thing, it was important for me to have been very happy to share the train compartment the following day with the winning trophy.

But again, it isn't the game that's so important, it isn't even the camaraderie that the sport engenders, it's the fact that the sport has emerged at all and how it emerged in a place where, not so very long ago, there was underdevelopment. 

It is a testament to how far rural governance has come in China.

Now, in today's villages in China, memories of potholed dirt tracks into and through the villages are long gone, and every single village has a sealed road in and out of it. Many of them have high-speed rails running through them to a larger town or nearby city. Almost all of them have interstate highways with ramps to get on and off. They all have 5G connectivity. 

In many of these previously impoverished regions, express delivery companies have become a lifeline. They ship goods out of the villages, but more importantly, they bring goods in.

Shacks have been replaced with homes, dilapidated old stores have been replaced with mini-markets, donkey carts have been replaced with motorbikes and small cars. 

Something amazing has happened in the last 20 years, which is the period I've been paying attention, and this has developed into a national phenomenon.

This is all part of the new rural revitalization program which will ensure that not only is poverty alleviated, it remains that way and is sustainable. 

CunBA, the grass-roots basketball tournament in rural China, vividly reflects the vitality of the countryside and the effectiveness of rural governance. Local authorities support the event by providing infrastructure, ensuring safety, and integrating it with tourism and local product promotions - without over-directing. 

Such governance respects grass-roots autonomy while guiding resources and public services to meet people's needs. Spontaneous and deeply rooted in local cultures, the event draws enthusiastic participation from farmers, vendors and even the elderly and children, turning basketball courts into vibrant social hubs. 

As a result, CunBA not only boosts physical health and social interaction but also drives economic activity and cultural pride, offering a lively example of how collaborative governance can unleash rural vitality.

Ultimately, CunBA is not just a sporting spectacle - it is the heartbeat of a revitalized countryside, proving that when governance empowers, even the smallest village can stage its own kind of glory.

The author is a British Australian freelance writer who has studied cross cultural change management in China and has lived in the country, traveling extensively for almost two decades. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn