Witnessing in Belgium how media brings people together amid revelry of World Cup live broadcast and beer cheers
2026-09-14 09:35 环球时报网英文版
In Rongjiang county, Southwest China"s Guizhou Province, the locally organized "Village Super League," or Cun Chao, grew rapidly from a grassroots football competition into a nationwide cultural phenomenon. Provincial football competitions in places such as Jiangsu Province, often referred to as Su Chao, have also drawn enormous public attention. Office workers, teachers and delivery drivers form teams to compete, while stadium seats are difficult to find on weekends.
From Guizhou to Jiangsu, from village leagues to provincial competitions, a grassroots football boom is emerging in different parts of China.
The people who travel from across the country to watch these matches are not necessarily looking for the highest level of technical football. What they are seeking is the experience of being there on a summer evening - shouting together, watching ordinary people run and sweat on the pitch, and becoming part of a shared moment.
A beer bar in Brussels and a Cun Chao, or a provincial-league stadium, in China may be thousands of kilometers apart, but they operate according to a similar logic.
In an age of highly developed digital media, people"s desire to experience things together has not disappeared. If anything, it has become stronger.
This is an important direction for humanistic economics to explore.
Back to the bar in Brussels. That evening, Belgium lost 2-1 to Spain and was eliminated in the World Cup quarterfinals.
The screens in the bar replayed the highlights. Some people quietly put on their coats and slowly finished the last sip of their beer. Others patted the person next to them on the shoulder and exchanged a helpless smile. No one seemed in a hurry to leave. It was as if everyone had silently agreed to stay a little longer and process the disappointment together.



