The "Village BA" event in Lan'gao, Shaanxi, concluded over a month ago, but its impact lingers. Revisiting this mountainous county, one finds both officials and residents eagerly anticipating next year's tournament. Basketball culture carries the youthful memories of generations in Lan'gao. As a nationally recognized model county for mass sports, all 136 villages and communities in Lan'gao boast basketball courts and teams, with regular county-wide competitions organized.
Following the hosting of the 2023 National Harmonious Rural Basketball Tournament (Village BA) Shaanxi Division qualifiers and the 2024 "Shaanxi Village BA" Cultural Tourism Challenge, Lan'gao welcomed waves of visitors, achieving an 82.09% surge in tourism revenue. Building on this foundation, the 2025 third edition expanded into a three-month festival integrating sports, culture, tourism, commerce, and agriculture. From mid-July to the National Day holiday, participants including international guests from 13 countries, 144 teams from 11 Chinese provinces, and over 2,000 cultural performers delivered more than 350 thrilling matches and 600 cultural performances. This drove annual tourist visits beyond 5 million, while online retail sales of consumer goods grew over 25% for three consecutive months—realizing the vision of "hosting one event to revitalize a city and enrich its people."
By leveraging its local context, Lan'gao has boldly interconnected regional resources across sports, culture, tourism, commerce, and agriculture. Through cross-sector storytelling, the county harnesses the power of sports IP to address the broader challenge of developing distinctive county-level economies. The event has also subtly influenced rural social norms. Many residents note that while card games once dominated leisure time, the "Village BA" now inspires spontaneous team practices and intergenerational spectatorship, fostering healthier lifestyles amid sweat and laughter. The sportsmanship of rule adherence, fair play, and teamwork has quietly strengthened shared values.
County Party Secretary Wei Xiaolin attributes the event's success to community-wide hospitality, praising the collective spirit of Lan'gao's 170,000 residents. When sports ignite rural areas, they illuminate not just athletic passion but also a county's cultural, developmental, and governance awakening within rural revitalization. Innovative platforms like "Village BA" serve as effective tools for unity, governance refinement, and harmony, offering fresh approaches to integrating rule of law, virtue, and autonomy in rural governance.
The fusion of sports, culture, tourism, commerce, and agriculture proves a viable path for county economies. Using sports as a bridge to boost tourism, showcase local products, and revive culture, "Village BA" exemplifies a replicable model for rural revitalization. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Lan'gao—soon connected to the Xi'an-Chongqing high-speed rail—will deepen integration into the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle and emerge as Shaanxi’s southern gateway. County Mayor Wang Renkang emphasizes leveraging Lan'gao’s natural endowments of "scenic landscapes and strategic location" to advance its unique development path, prioritizing leisure sports and wellness tourism. Moving forward, branded events and festivals will link resources county-wide, enhancing services to convert transient visitors into long-term stays, charting a high-quality development course driven by distinctive IP and ecological value transformation.
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