At a school soccer field in Rongjiang County, Guizhou, thousands of people, both villagers and tourists, are gathering to see a big event — the "Village Football Association (Village FA)".
It is an exciting and fun soccer competition happening in a village. The people who live there organized it, and it has become really popular online lately. The competition takes place every Friday to Sunday from May 13th to July 29th. There are 20 teams made up of 16 different ethnic groups(民族) taking part in. The players, who come from local villages, have different jobs like butchers, farmers, and building workers. Instead of getting trophies (奖杯) as prizes, they receive things like salted meat, red eggs, and even live animals.
Yang Yajiang, the vice president of the soccer association in Rongjiang County, says, "____" Even though the players are not professionals (职业选手), they come together as a team and compete no matter what the result is.
Some of the people supporting the teams are in their 80s and don't even know the rules of the game. But they still show up to cheer for their village teams. This spirit of unity isn't just found in one village, but it's seen among people from all over the country. Can you imagine a scene where after a match, suddenly 50,000 supporters from different ethnic groups come together to sing a song called "Me and My Country"?
Village FA is also a special event for the locals to show their culture. During breaks between matches, there are colorful performances by people from different ethnic groups. They sing, dance, and even have fashion shows where they wear traditional costumes.
