A fan bangs pots and pans at the Beautiful Countryside Village Basketball Association finals in Taipan village of Taijiang county in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province on Sunday. (Photo: Xinhua)

The Beautiful Countryside Village Basketball Association finals were held in the village of Taipan, Guizhou Province, Saturday to Monday.

“I’m not sure whether I can get a ticket,” basketball superstar Yao Ming, chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, told Guizhou Radio and Television Station.

Thousands of spectators wave their phone flashlights at the Beautiful Countryside Village Basketball Association finals in Taipan village of Taijiang county in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province on Sunday. (Gif: CCTV)

All seats were taken even after Taipan authorities added 10,000 extras.

Outside the venue could be found 26 official media live-streaming to more than 30 million viewers.

Spectators staked out seats seven hours ahead. They brought cards, chess and rice wine. Others cobbled shoes as they waited.

Spectators find there are no three days without rain at the Beautiful Countryside Village Basketball Association finals in Taipan village of Taijiang county in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province on Sunday. (Photo: Xinhua)

Spectators without tickets brought ladders. They climbed trees, scaled hills and hung from windows of nearby buildings.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for an organization named the Village Basketball Association (VBA), the players, cheerleaders and prizes were all connected to a rural idyl.

The third-place Tongren team picks up ducks at an awards ceremony on Monday in Taipan village, Taijiang county of Southwest China’s Guizhou Province. (Photo: Xinhua）

Organizers laid on charming, interactive cultural performances with a rustic flavor.

In a pre-match junior game, elementary school student Li Wenwen won a duck.

Elementary school student Li Wenwen seems delighted with her duck, a prize for winning a hoops contest at Taipan village in Taijiang county of Southwest China’s Guizhou Province on Sunday. (Photo: Xinhua)

Another child won a white rabbit.

Cheerleaders held hands and danced in ethnic minority costumes during the halftime break.

It was a tense series of finals between Qiandongnan prefecture, Tongren city, Bijie city and Zunyi city.

The final final came on Monday when Qiandongnan prefecture defeated Zunyi city 68:65.

Zunyi city in red attacks Qiandongnan prefecture in blue at the thrilling finale of the Beautiful Countryside Village Basketball Association finals in Taipan village of Taijiang county in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province on Monday. Qiandongnan won 68:65. (Gif: CCTV)

The winning Qiandongnan team each received a trophy, a medal and silver ornaments of the Miao ethnic minority.

Runners-up each received a sturgeon and members of the third-place team each got a duck.

Organizers had to stop players from sharing their prizes with the crowd.

The awards ceremony finally ended and the athletes departed.

Meanwhile in Taipan, the party started.

Fans scream for their team at the Beautiful Countryside Village Basketball Association finals in Taipan village of Taijiang county in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province on Sunday. (Gif: CCTV)

VBA originated in a local competition which the village staged on the sixth day of the lunar calendar to celebrate the traditional Chinese Chixin Festival.

Since then the VBA has organized more than 5,000 games, according to Guizhou sports bureau.

Guizhou basketball players are unfazed by rain at the Village Basketball Association finals in Taipan village of Taijiang county in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province on Sunday. (Photo: Xinhua)

The burgeoning rural sports and cultural extravaganza has boosted catering, accommodation and supermarket services in the area.

“Although I wasn't there, I can still feel it from the video it's so hot,” commented one internet user.

“This is a basketball game with Chinese characteristics,” remarked another.

The Village Basketball Association finals attract record crowds to the Taijiang county village of Taipan in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province on Sunday. (Photo: Xinhua)