STORY: New Zealanders see passion, charm in China's village football competition
DATELINE: Oct. 11, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:48
LOCATION: GUIZHOU, China
CATEGORY: SPORTS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the village football tournament
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): TREVOR, Tourist from New Zealand
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): LINDA, Tourist from New Zealand

STORYLINE:

Two New Zealanders who have extensively explored China were impressed by a village football tournament held in China's Guizhou Province.

Trevor and his mother, Linda, visited Rongjiang County in Guizhou in July.

The village football tournament, nicknamed "Cun Chao," was held in Rongjiang from May 13 to July 29 this year.

During the tournament, 20 village teams played 98 games, attracting over a million audience to the site.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): TREVOR, Tourist from New Zealand
"I was at a football tournament, who was much larger than I thought it would be, compared to a tournament in my own home country. It was fascinating. It was very loud, very passionate. People were extremely passionate and to see just how many people would travel from far and wide to come and participate, even when they may not be able to get into the grounds, just showed how they felt about this event.
And I think it's a wonderful event for Guizhou. And it brings a lot of people here and to experience the place. The game itself, they played so well. It was a very exciting match.
It was an opportunity to see like almost every minority culture here together in one shot, all dressed in their special clothing. So to see that with your eyes all at one time and one moment was fascinating."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): LINDA, Tourist from New Zealand
"Passionate and exciting. That's what I saw. And a lot of noise, but it was great. The team that was expected to win, didn't, but the team that won, they deserved it too."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Guizhou, China.
(XHTV)