When the lights of the Rongjiang Sports Center finally lit up again on July 1 after a weeklong, countywide blackout caused by catastrophic flooding, Liu Qinlan almost burst into tears.

For this small business owner, and many others in the remote, mountainous Rongjiang County, part of China’s southwestern Guizhou province, the stadium serves as a beacon of hope: the sacred home of the Guizhou Village Super League.

The annual grassroots soccer tournament, which first made headlines in 2023 for its wild, down-to-earth atmosphere, kicked off as scheduled in January. However, the action ground to a halt in mid-summer when the county was devastated by flooding, following heavy rainfall on June 24 and 28.

With water levels in some places reaching as high as three meters, much of the local infrastructure was severely damaged, including the stadium. The soccer field was entirely washed away, while the rubber running track was torn to pieces.

In the aftermath of the first deluge, Rongjiang was left without power and running water for eight days. Then, on the evening of July 1, the stadium sparked back into life.

Moments earlier, Shi Liangzhong had been sitting in the pitch-black ruins of his lamb soup restaurant, feeling defeated. “I’m done with this place,” he told the others around him. “I might as well go back to my hometown and start farming.”

Yet, when he saw the stadium illuminated again, Shi says it felt like his heart had been turned back on. He thought to himself, “If the Village Super League can recover this fast, then I have to find a way to rebuild my business, too.”

Tight deadlines

Since the Guizhou Village Super League went viral, soccer has become Rongjiang’s calling card, with the tournament drawing fans from far and wide, providing a welcome boost for the local tourism industry and overall economy. The county received 9.46 million visitors last year, a 24% increase from 2023, and that number was forecast to surpass 10 million in 2025, although the floods have made that unlikely.

In July, virtually everything in the county had to be rebuilt from scratch.

“Hit hardest were the livelihoods of the residents,” says Xu Bo, the county’s Party secretary. After the success of the league, more than 7,000 new businesses opened in Rongjiang — and almost every one of them was affected by the flood.

Liu and her husband, who grew up here, moved back home in May 2023 to open a store selling batik clothing and cultural products, just a stone’s throw from the Rongjiang Sports Center. After the rain in June, all that remained of their stock was a heavy wooden tea table. Yet, theirs was one of the first businesses to reopen, with all renovations completed by July 14.

From the beginning, Liu has used social media to promote her store, having connected with many distributors through her short videos. After the flood, she posted updates on the damage and recovery progress. Many customers saw the news and sent Liu private messages, asking to place orders. “People wanted batik qipao,” she says, referring to a traditional style of Chinese dress, “so I thought I should get the shop open as quickly as possible.”

The goal was to reopen its doors before the league restarted on July 26.

That deadline meant a race against time not only for Liu but also the Rongjiang Football Association. One staff member says that the reconstruction work at the stadium continued right up to the night before kickoff.

When matchday arrived, tickets were sold out. Shu Jia, who owns a craft beer outlet nearby, watched a live broadcast on his smartphone. When the cameras turned to the flood rescue and recovery teams, who had been invited onto the field to a standing ovation, he couldn’t help but get emotional. “To get the Guizhou Village Super League back up and running in less than a month — the speed is astonishing,” he says.

On the evening of Aug. 4, cheers from an all-star exhibition match could be heard at Shi’s restaurant, now brightly lit, with brand-new tables, chairs, and kitchen. On the wall were various pictures of his hometown team, Dangxiang Village Football Club.

Shi lost more than 300,000 yuan ($42,127) in the flooding. “There was nothing left,” says the 52-year-old, his voice trailing off at the thought. All that survived were an old restaurant sign and a battered air conditioning unit. Shi hired people to clear out the silt, which took a week, then spent 20 days on renovations. “The refrigerators, stoves, and even the wiring all had to be replaced.”

To cover the costs of starting over, Shi secured a bank loan, taking advantage of the preferential loan policies for affected businesses. “The government subsidizes a portion of the interest,” he explains, adding that he also plans to inquire about tax relief policies for flood-hit merchants.

Shu’s brewery is a short distance away. At 9 p.m. that same night, he and a friend had just finished dinner and were about to repair a sofa. The seat cushions had been ruined, and a new set would cost more than 2,000 yuan. Instead, they decided to cut and install wooden boards and order cheaper, custom-made cushions. “We’re patching things up and making do for now,” he says.

The flooding cost Shu more than 100,000 yuan, having lost two cars, two beer pumps, three refrigerators, and two TV sets. “We threw out the useless items and sold the rest for scrap to get some money back,” he says. “The price for scrap in Rongjiang has been driven down now.”

To save money, Shu has been learning DIY skills, so that he can fix up usable barbecue grills, refrigerators, and other equipment. However, his biggest headache has been logistics. With the suspension of most delivery services, replacement parts have been slow to arrive.

Ultimately, his brewery wasn’t ready in time for the league restart, but he was determined to have his taps flowing again before the finals on Aug. 9.

Final countdown

When Hu Yu saw the entire county buried in mud in June, he estimated the cleanup would take at least two to three months. Yet, after just a few weeks, he noticed that the flowers and plants in the green belt outside his car dealership had already been replanted. “The public areas were restored incredibly fast,” he says.

During the floods, the 20 or so vehicles that were in Hu’s showroom — just 100 meters from the Duliu River — were completely submerged in silt, and all the desks, chairs, and small essentials like napkins and pens were swept away.

By early August, the business had been freshly painted and restocked with a line of gleaming new and repaired cars. However, hiring staff to replace those who left after the disaster has been a challenge. “One of them lost his house, so he went home to rebuild,” he explains. “Another, who was only renting here, simply left to work elsewhere.”

Changchi Plaza, the county’s largest commercial complex, was among the worst-hit areas, with the water level reaching six meters in the basement level. The drainage work lasted until June 30.

On the afternoon of Aug. 5, clearance sale signs were posted in many storefronts in the mall. In one first-floor shop, Chang Li was attempting to sell off more than 400 pairs of children’s shoes that she’d managed to rescue from the flood, about 10% of her inventory. She felt lucky to have salvaged anything at all.

To recoup her losses, Chang had hired eight workers to clean the water-damaged shoes, and was now offering three pairs for the price of one, having set up in a free, temporary space inside the plaza. Though she had wiped the glass windows and sprayed disinfectant, a distinct musty smell still hung in the air, while blue-black mold crept up the walls.

Scrolling through Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, Chang had seen that some store owners had abandoned their businesses and moved elsewhere, but she says she couldn’t bear to leave. After running a shoe shop there for about seven years, she has too many loyal customers. “If I change locations, I’ll have to start all over again. The impact would be huge,” she says, adding that once the renovations are complete, she’ll move back to her regular spot.

Shooting stars

Almost as astonishing as the pace of Rongjiang’s recovery was the outpouring of support from across the country. Zhang Mingtao, head of the Rongjiang Charity Federation, says his phone was ringing off the hook as people rushed to donate to the recovery efforts. “I’d often be on one call while seven or eight more were trying to get through,” he says.

The Aug. 4 exhibition match also helped raise significant funds, as fans packed the stands to watch a team of retired professional players — including Fan Zhiyi, who starred for China at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and Shanghai Shenhua stalwart Xie Hui — take on the local Chejiang First Village Football Club.

In addition, the all-star side donated 450,000 yuan to the Rongjiang Charity Federation, along with sports equipment provided by the team’s sponsors. “We’re not here to chase the publicity,” the players said in a joint news statement. “We just genuinely want to do something tangible for the Guizhou Village Super League and Rongjiang — this county and its people deserve to be cared for and protected.”

Fan, who captained the team, first visited Rongjiang in 2023 and was impressed then by the local people’s sincerity and passion for soccer. He remembers hearing an announcement over the stadium’s loudspeaker asking locals to give up their seats for tourists, as well as a ride-hailing driver who offered to let a group of visitors stay in his home.

On the drive from Rongjiang Railway Station to their hotel, Fan and other players looked out from the bus windows, remarking on how clean and tidy the streets were, with hardly any trace of flood damage at first glance.

The scars of the disaster were more visible close up, however. During a visit to Rongjiang No.1 Middle School, Zhang Chenglin — a retired defender who played twice for the China men’s national team — noticed a spiderweb of yellow-brown stains on the walls of the sports field’s breakroom. In a house at the entrance to Chejiang First Village, he also spotted a watermark just below the ceiling in a first-floor room.

Beside the field at the Rongjiang Sports Center, white poles marked with red paint stand as reminders of how high the water level reached on June 24. Chen Xingyang, who plays in goal for Chejiang First Village Football Club, was among those who spent days clearing silt from the stadium, making it a proud moment when he stepped on that grass on Aug. 4.

For people in Rongjiang, the Guizhou Village Super League is woven into every fabric of their lives. More than a soccer tournament, it’s the heart and soul of the community.

Shortly before the finals on Aug. 9, shop owner Liu joined a meeting with league administrators, village and team leaders, and other representatives to brainstorm ideas for future tournaments that could attract even more fans. The discussion lasted from 7:30 p.m. until well past midnight.

In the face of devastation, this drive and passion for the “beautiful game” have helped bring many people in Rongjiang back from the brink.

(Due to privacy concerns, Shu Jia and Chang Li are pseudonyms.)

Reported by Wang Qian.

A version of this article originally appeared in Original (Jiefang Daily). It has been translated and edited for brevity and clarity, and is republished here with permission.

Translator: Chen Yue; editors: Wang Juyi and Hao Qibao.

(Header image: Players vie for the ball during the charity all-star match at the Rongjiang Sports Center, Aug. 4, 2025. VCG)