The 2026 Hunan Provincial Gorgeous Countryside Basketball Tournament (Village BA, or Cun BA), also a qualifier for the national tournament, is set to kick off in Miluo, Yueyang, on July 21. Sixteen rural basketball teams from Hunan's 13 cities and one prefecture will compete in 44 matches over eight days.

The competition will be held at a main venue and a sub-venue—the Miluo City Village BA Gymnasium and the Miluo No. 1 High School Basketball Gymnasium. The 16 teams will be divided into four groups—A, B, C, and D, beginning with group matches before advancing to knockout rounds to determine final rankings. The finals will kick off at 20:00 on July 28. The champion and runner-up teams will gain access to the Southern Regional Qualifier of the National "Village BA," on behalf of Hunan Province.

The event will be livestreamed to allow audiences to watch the matches online. During the event, Miluo will leverage the basketball matches to deeply integrate the "Village BA" event with its three cultural icons—the Dragon Boat Festival, dragon boat race, and patriotic poet Qu Yuan. A series of supporting activities will be held, including a specialty agricultural products fair, a Dragon Boat Festival-themed food festival, and a dragon boat culture exhibition, offering a "match watching + shopping + recreation" one-stop experience.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn