Lianmeng Village， Haibin Street， Binhai New District， Tianjin City：”Basketball match” for rural development brings new driving force for rural revitalization

What will it look like when sports enter the countryside？

As soon as the whistle blows， players on the court go all out， with the basketball swimming in their hands， and they are attacking， defending， dribbling， and shooting． The audience on the side of the court cheer and applaud continuously， and there is a lot of jubilation．

When the music starts， the electronic music drums in the square are shocking and full of rhythm． The young dancers of the Shuffle Dance Troupe glide and turn freely， with active and powerful dance postures and flexible and diverse movements．

Walking in Lianmeng Village， Haibin Street， Binhai New District， Tianjin， you will be immersed in and enjoy the wide and flat roads， well－proportioned houses， and the spacious and magnificent European－style cultural square． Recreational sports and rural tourism complement each other so well．

Planting Rich Cultural Soil with Sports as Media

In order to further promote national fitness activities and enrich the amateur cultural life of the public， on the eve of National Day this year， Lianmeng Village， Haibin Street held the 11th”Lianmeng Cup” Basketball Challenge． After the opening ceremony， the referee blows the whistle and the first match starts on time． On the court， players exert their youthful effort， sweat， run， shoot， and enjoy the joy and vitality brought by basketball． On the side of the court， the audience are all eyes on the wonderful moments．

“Basketball has accompanied the people of Lianmeng Village for more than 20 years and is a‘shining business card’ of LianmengVillage． LianmengVillage has hosted the Lianmeng Cup Basketball League for more than 20 years since 2000． The basketball match is not only a village event， but also attracts the successive participation of teams from Beijing， Tianjin， Hebei and other places． In the next step， Lianmeng Village will focus on people’s livelihood， make every effort to strengthen the construction of sports infrastructure， hold popular events and activities， promote the resonance of cultural recreational and sports activities and rural revitalization， coordinate the development of material civilization and spiritual civilization， and strive to create a Chinese－style modern sample village for rural revitalization！”， said Wang Shaoshan， head of the Lianmeng Village Committee．

Cultural coordination waters the flowers of civilization

As an important part of the rural culture revitalization of Lianmeng Village， rural sports undertakings are not just about basketball．”Now the villagers are all engaged in cultural recreational and sports activities in the free time， and our life has been enriched．” Mrs． Wang， a villager， said excitedly， pointing to other old ladies who were dancing in the square．

In the spacious and clean cultural square of Lianmeng Village， every morning and evening， the persons from the elderly Yangko team dance to the sonorous gongs and drums， and the teams of Tai Chi Chuan， Tai Chi Fan， and Tai Chi Sword are performing in succession．

”A variety of cultural recreational and sports activities have enriched the villagers’ amateur cultural life， and the construction of spiritual civilization has been continuously strengthened．” Wang Shaoshan said that Lianmeng Village successively established a basketball team， a Yangko team， a Tai Chi Chuan team， a mommy hip－hop team， an elderly chorus， and a juvenile Shuffle dance troupe， a calligraphy association， a photography association and other organizations． During holidays， the village also carries out activities that are familiar to the people and close to life， such as sending couplets with blessings during the Spring Festival， Yangko Flower Party during the Lantern Festival， Basketball Match during May Day， and respecting and caring for the elderly during the Double Ninth Festival， constantly enriching rural cultural recreational and sports life and meeting the demand of villagers for spiritual civilization．

Integration of Villages and Enterprises for Vigorous Development of Three Industries

Culture nurtures the village and industries enrich the people． In Lianmeng Village， modern factories are now rising one after another． Villagers can find jobs easily and get rich gradually．

In recent years， Lianmeng Village has developed rural industries based on the village’s superior resources and industrial foundation according to local conditions， gradually forming an industry－led development pattern with deep integration of primary， secondary and tertiary industries． There are currently 38 enterprises and more than 80 individual businesses in Lianmeng Village． In 2021， the income of the village collective was 6．26 million yuan， and the per capita income of villagers reached more than 30，000 yuan．

As the industries develop， the welfare benefits of villagers have also been improved．”In the prosperous Lianmeng Village， the fruits of development must benefit the people． The village provides villagers of different ages with various types of insurance and subsidies．” Wang Shaoshan said，”We will fund the elderly over 50 years old for their accident insurance， provide women aged 60 and men aged 65 with the elderly living allowances， offer scholarships to students admitted to key universities， and provide traffic subsidies to students in grades 1 to 9．”

（供稿單位：天津農業農村委 圖文／王錦錕，徐斌 翻譯／沈毅）