NANCHANG, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Huangsha Village has developed a packed sporting calendar, with international cross-country cycling races, mountain bike events, Jiangxi provincial bridge tournaments, city and county gas volleyball leagues and youth table tennis competitions held regularly in the mountain village in Zhenzhushan Township, Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province.
Ten years ago, Huangsha was a remote village that attracted few visitors, with many of its young people working elsewhere. The turning point came in January 2019, when the third Shangrao City Gas Volleyball League brought 38 teams and more than 300 participants to stay and compete in the village, quickly raising its profile.
Since then, the village, home to about 1,000 permanent residents, has recorded more than one million tourist visits. Gas volleyball, youth table tennis and mountain biking events now rotate throughout the year. The Wuyuan Farming Sports Meet has also been held in Huangsha for several consecutive years, drawing 55 teams and more than 600 participants last year. In 2025 alone, the village hosted more than 20 sporting events, earning it a reputation as an "event village."
At the village entrance stands a village-level national fitness center that provides indoor space for competitions. "In the past, young people were eager to leave the village to seek work elsewhere," said Xu Bin, an official of Huangsha, standing in front of the center. "Now during competition season, every homestay is full and every farmhouse restaurant is busy."
The influx of events has brought tangible changes to villagers' lives. At villager Wang Caimei's homestay, the walls are decorated with gymnastics murals and rooms are named after sports.
"I used to live off a few small plots of land," Wang said. "Since the village started hosting events, I converted my three-story house into a sports-themed homestay."
When teams arrive, her rooms are often full and she cooks from morning to night, while guests also buy local honey, handmade sauce cakes and wild jujube pastries. She earns an additional 50,000 to 60,000 yuan (about 7,450 to 8,940 U.S. dollars) a year.
Fang Guogen, another villager, has also benefited from the growth of sports tourism. After more than a decade in the catering business elsewhere, he returned home and invested more than 2 million yuan in a hotel. Meals for athletes, along with wedding and birthday banquets for villagers, keep the business busy. He earns more than 200,000 yuan a year in profit and purchases over 300,000 yuan worth of agricultural products from local growers annually, helping boost their incomes.
More villagers are now earning a living from sports-related tourism. To keep more of the benefits within the community, Huangsha established a homestay tourism cooperative that operates 21 sports-themed homestays under unified management and distributes shared dividends. Annual dividends from the homestays total nearly one million yuan, with the highest payout to a single household reaching 18,000 yuan. "We have turned event traffic into cash in villagers' pockets," Xu said.
Huangsha's transformation reflects Wuyuan County's broader push to integrate sports and tourism. Wang Qinghui, an official of Wuyuan, said the county has made use of its mountains and ancient post roads to develop the "China's Most Beautiful Countryside - Wuyuan Sports Tourism Route," combining sports with tourism, health and wellness, and study tours.
In 2025, Wuyuan recorded 2.05 million visits by sports participants and spectators, generating 1.03 billion yuan in direct spending. The county has also improved fitness trails and cycling greenways, built a "15-minute national fitness circle" in urban areas and expanded rural sports facilities.
"One participant brings the whole family," said Wang Kai, head of the Wuyuan County Social Sports Industry Development Center. Athletes visit ancient villages, sample local food and buy specialties, creating additional spending beyond the events themselves. In Zhenzhushan Township, the sports and leisure town brand attracts about 100,000 tourists a year and generates more than 5 million yuan in sales of local specialties.
The growth of sports has also expanded leisure opportunities for local residents. At dusk, the Huangsha national fitness center is brightly lit as villager Wang Dongjiao and her friends arrive for square dancing. "The venue is free, and county instructors regularly teach us soft ball exercises," she said. "Life keeps getting better." ■
