Xinhua News Agency, Guiyang, May 10 (Reporter Zheng Minghong) Since the beginning of this year, the "Aunt" basketball game with novel rules and a focus on happiness has attracted an extra wave of attention in Leishan County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province, where the Xij

. This unique sport created by local minority women has become known to more people.

html On May 1st, the audience watched the game live. On the same day, the first "Aunt" Basketball Invitational Tournament of Guizhou Province in 2024 came to an end at the Qianhu Miao Village Scenic Area in Xijiang, Leishan County, Qiandongnan Prefecture. A total of 10 "Aunt" basketball teams participated. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Wenbin

Qiandongnan Prefecture is known as the "Hometown of Hundreds of Festivals" and basketball games are held every festival. Shi Fang, director of the Leishan County Sports Management Center, said that few women could play basketball in the past, so they broke through the traditional basketball rules and created this novel form of competition. Because the participants are mainly women (locally called "aunts") who have returned to their hometowns after marriage, it is named "Aunt Basketball".

More than 10 years ago, a picture taken by Leishan County photographer Xiang Zezhong brought "aunt basketball" into the public eye. In the picture, a woman in national costume from Paili Village, Datang Town, this county is holding the ball and preparing for a layup. Several other women are running up to intercept, and their faces are all filled with laughter.

This is the scene of the "Aunt" basketball game photographed by Xiang Zezhong.

According to statistics, in the past 10 years, 87 villages in Leishan County, including Xijiang Village, Zadao Village, and Wuyao Village, have held activities during the Guzang Festival, International Women's Day, New Food Festival, Hill Climbing Festival and Spring Festival. Hosted "Auntie" basketball games.

Nowadays, this sport has gone out of Thunder Mountain and there are many participants. Taipan Village, Taijiang County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, which is famous for being a "village ba", has also held "Aunt" basketball games many times.

Li Xia, general manager of Guizhou Nongdongbao Sports and Tourism Culture Development Co., Ltd., said that they had previously conducted surveys in 64 villages in 16 counties (cities) in Qiandongnan Prefecture and found that many villages were playing "aunt basketball" and "the atmosphere on the scene was strong. The players and spectators are happy.”

html On May 1, the audience cheered for the team members during the game. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Wenbin

The profound cultural soil is the foundation for the rise and development of the "Aunt" basketball game. Li Tianyi, a professor at Guizhou University for Nationalities, believes that the "Aunt" basketball game is the epitome of the "Aunt culture" from tradition to modernity. The aunts use the ball as a medium to connect villages with villages, villages with villages, and people with people, passing on It emits qualities such as equality, harmony, wisdom, beauty, and joy.

The rise and development of the "Aunt" basketball game are inseparable from the improvement of the rural sports environment. Li Xue, deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Leishan County Party Committee, said that there are 154 administrative villages in Leishan County, and each village currently has at least one basketball court. Statistics show that as of December 2023, Guizhou has built a total of 16,437 rural sports fitness projects in townships (towns, streets) and administrative villages (communities).

"We first played games in the village school. Later, the village built a reed pipe field, so we bought a basketball stand and placed it on the reed field. We can dance the reed and play basketball." Approved by the head of Datang Town, Leishan County Yang Ting, the village women's director, said that the village built a plastic basketball court in the past few years. "It's very soft when you step on it, and it's much more comfortable when you play ball."

This is the scene of the first "Aunt" Basketball Invitational Tournament in Guizhou Province taken on May 1 (drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Wenbin

As it develops, the "Aunt" basketball game has gradually become standardized, completing the transformation from completely irregular to having certain rules. Ren Fuzhi, a villager in Zhangpi Village, said that at first, there were often situations where many people were trying to rob each other, which was very chaotic and easy to get injured. After two or three years of exploration, a unique set of "Aunt" basketball game rules was developed: if there is no walking violation, players can run with the ball; as long as it is not an intentional foul, in principle no penalty will be whistled; at the end of the regular game time, both sides In the event of a tie, free throws will determine the winner. The holding of

events also promoted the promotion of "aunt basketball". During the Spring Festival this year, Xijiang Village, Xijiang Town, Leishan County, spontaneously held an "Aunt" basketball game, attracting a total of 75 villages in the county to sign up to participate.From March 8th to 10th, Xijiang Village hosted the first "Aunt" Basketball Invitational Tournament in Qiandongnan Prefecture in 2024. A total of 19 teams from 16 local counties (cities) participated. From April 28th to May 1st, the first "Aunt" Basketball Invitational Tournament in Guizhou Province was held in Xijiang Village. A total of 10 teams from 9 cities (states) in Guizhou participated.

"We are very excited to win the championship. Although the competition process is hard, we enjoy this competition very much. It is very interesting." Yang Tingni, a member of the Tongren City team who finally won the championship, said.

html On May 1, players from the Qiandongnan Prefecture team (in red) competed with players from the Tongren City team in the finals. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Wenbin

With its novel format, strong interest, full of joy, and increasingly standardized, the "Aunt" basketball game has gone out of the mountains and attracted massive attention. Data provided by the Leishan County Party Committee Propaganda Department shows that so far, the number of online views on topics related to the "Aunt" basketball game has reached approximately 5 billion. The reporter combed through the comments of netizens from various places and found that "novelty", "fun" and "happiness" were their main impressions of the "Auntie" basketball game.

On March 8, the first "Aunt" Basketball Invitational Tournament in Qiandongnan Prefecture kicked off. Ms. Liu and her family, who drove from Shenzhen to Guizhou, were attracted by the warm atmosphere and interesting scenes on the court and found a spot behind the basketball hoop. He sat down in the open space to watch the game and took pictures and records with his mobile phone from time to time. "We didn't know there was this competition before we came here. We thought it was very interesting. The aunts are very loving and united." Ms. Liu said. Yu Yang, a tourist from Beijing, "smiled the whole time as they finished the game." Mr. Li, a tourist from Zhejiang, said: "It turns out that basketball can be played like this. It's so interesting." After being reported by the media,

related events also attracted the attention of foreign netizens. A Nepalese netizen said it was a unique basketball game, "It's very interesting." Great". On April 30, a tourist from Austria watched the "Aunt" basketball game live. "This is my first time to come to Leishan and experience the Miao culture here. After I found out there was a basketball game here, I came to watch it. This kind of basketball game is very unique and fun, which impressed me deeply," he said.