Guizhou Village Super League Expands From County to Province
When the final whistle blew at the Rongjiang Village Super League stadium on August 2, the stands erupted in celebration. The Qiandongnan Sour Soup Ben Niu team had just defeated Tongren Fanjing Matcha 3-2 to win the inaugural Guizhou Rural Football Super League provincial championship, marking a historic milestone in the evolution of China’s most celebrated grassroots football phenomenon. The third-place match saw Liupanshui Farmers’ Painting Team defeat Zunyi Sauce Aroma Team 3-2, as Xinhua News Agency reported.
From County Phenomenon to Provincial Movement
The Village Super League, known in Chinese as “Cun Chao,” originated in Rongjiang County in May 2023 as a local amateur football competition featuring farmers, truck drivers, shopkeepers, and teachers. It quickly became a national sensation, drawing massive domestic and international attention and earning praise from President Xi Jinping in his 2024 New Year address as an example of vibrant grassroots culture.
In October 2025, the competition took a historic leap forward. The upgraded Guizhou Rural Football Super League was launched, extending the format across all 9 cities and prefectures and 88 counties of the province. According to the National Sports Administration, the provincial expansion created a new landscape where “every county plays Village Super League, every week has a match, and every month has an event.”
The scale is unprecedented for grassroots sports in China. More than 3,000 matches were played across the province, with thousands of amateur players—fruit farmers, truck drivers, self-employed individuals, doctors, teachers, and firefighters—taking to the pitch. The championship stage alone, which began on May 16, 2026, comprised 30 matches across four phases using a home-and-away double round-robin format, producing 81 goals in regular time.
A Final for the Ages
The championship final brought together two teams with contrasting paths. Qiandongnan, built largely on players from the county-level competition who had previously won the 2023 and 2024 Colorful Guizhou county-level championships, entered as the favorite. Tongren Fanjing Matcha, meanwhile, had emerged as a dark horse from the Wuling Mountain region, as detailed in a preview from the Tongren Municipal Government.
Yang Bing, a villager from Gukou Village who served as commentator for the final, noted the significance of the result: “The Qiandongnan team’s players are mainly drawn from county-level competition players. Winning the first provincial championship again demonstrates the strength of county-level players and the vitality of the county-level model.”
For the players, the final was a culmination of months of effort. “We train about five times a week,” said Yang Zhengqian of the Qiandongnan team. “Training is tough, and everyone finds time to train outside of work. With so many hometown supporters behind us, we had to win this championship for them.”
Economic Impact Across the Province
The provincial expansion has transformed the Village Super League from a single-county attraction into a province-wide economic driver. The opening match on May 16 attracted over 60,000 fans and generated 86 million yuan in tourism revenue for Rongjiang, according to data from the Guizhou Provincial Sports Bureau reported by Workercn.cn.
Similar patterns emerged across the province. A June 13 match in Huichuan District, Zunyi, drew approximately 70,000 visitors and generated 6.8 million yuan in tourism revenue. During the Tongren home match on June 9, Bijiang District received over 50,000 visitors with tourism revenue exceeding 5 million yuan, and five-star hotel occupancy exceeded 90 percent.
The economic ripple effects extend beyond tourism. Fans could claim 500-yuan consumption vouchers through the “Yima You Guizhou” platform using match tickets, creating a direct link between sports attendance and local commerce. As Wu Wenle, a player from the Zunyi Sauce Aroma Team, observed: “The provincial league has not only driven grassroots football enthusiasm across the province but also visibly boosted tourism and consumption everywhere.”
Cultural Ambassadors on the Pitch
Each of the nine provincial teams carries a name reflecting local identity—Qiandongnan Sour Soup Ben Niu (named after a local fish dish), Tongren Fanjing Matcha (after the famous mountain’s tea), Liupanshui Farmers’ Painting (a folk art tradition), and Zunyi Sauce Aroma (the Maotai liquor region), among others. These names serve as cultural ambassadors, promoting local tourism, products, and heritage.
The league’s cultural significance extends far beyond the pitch. “The Village Super League isn’t just broadcasting a football match—it’s spreading Guizhou’s landscapes, ethnic culture, and local hospitality,” said Wang Ke, a staff member of the Village Super League Radio at the Qiandongnan home venue. “Through the Village Super League, people see a real, vivid, and vibrant Guizhou.”
The expansion has also created new opportunities for agricultural products. As Laotian Times reported, livestream e-commerce booths at the matches have helped introduce Rongjiang’s golden passion fruit and other local products to consumers far beyond Guizhou. “In the past, consumers outside Guizhou knew little about Rongjiang’s golden passion fruit,” said Yuan Kepeng, a staff member of a participating company. “As the Village Super League became popular, more people came to know Rongjiang and its products.”
A Model for Grassroots Sports Development
The provincial expansion represents what a spokesperson for the Guizhou Provincial Sports Bureau called “horizontal expansion and vertical quality improvement”—maintaining the grassroots character while elevating the competition’s organization and reach. The league has generated over 100 million total online views across platforms, with all 30 championship-stage matches livestreamed across 9 home venues.
Lu Junjie, captain of the Liupanshui Farmers’ Painting Team, sees the expansion as a validation of the grassroots model. “The Village Super League brand has expanded from Rongjiang to the whole province, encouraging more Guizhou grassroots players to participate in football,” he said. “I believe that as the competition continues to develop, the provincial league will, like the county league, continue to raise the level of grassroots football across Guizhou.”
The league’s success has also inspired youth development. Li Zhangzhu, Guizhou Youth Training Director and renowned football coach, expressed optimism about the pipeline from grassroots to youth programs: “I look forward to children from Village Super League venues joining Guizhou’s youth training program and building a future together. Pure passion is an essential element for football development.”
What’s Next
As the inaugural provincial championship concludes, attention now turns to how the Village Super League will continue to evolve. The league’s success in connecting sports, tourism, culture, and commerce across an entire province offers a compelling model for grassroots sports development not just in China but globally. With the county-level league continuing alongside the provincial competition, and growing international interest in the phenomenon, the Village Super League appears poised to build on its remarkable trajectory from a single county’s passion project to a province-wide movement.
For the players, fans, and communities across Guizhou, the message is clear: the Village Super League has arrived—and it’s here to stay.