By Liu Junguo, People’s Daily
On a winter day, the sharp crack of a baseball bat cut through the quiet of the countryside. Footsteps followed, along with bursts of cheers. The sounds didn’t not come from an urban stadium, but from a baseball field nestled among rice paddies and village homes.
This is Xujiadai village, in Lindai township of Pinghu, Jiaxing, east China’s Zhejiang province. Here, the age-old rhythms of rural life are striking a new chord with the youthful pulse of sport, creating a fresh and vibrant atmosphere.
“In the past, almost every household raised pigs. The smell was strong, and the environment was poor,” recalled villager Zhang Jinfa. “Now the air is cleaner, the water is clearer, and people come here to play baseball. More tourists are visiting, and life is getting better.” His words captured Xujiadai’s transformation from a hog-farming community to a baseball village.
In 2003, Zhejiang province launched a large-scale rural revitalization initiative that began with improving living conditions in the countryside. By upgrading village infrastructure, cleaning up waterways, and restoring the rural environment, the program sought to improve not only ecological conditions but also rural production, daily life, and overall quality of life for farmers.
In Xujiadai village, livestock farms were closed and local rivers were rehabilitated, giving the village a fresh new look. Yet once the environment improved, a new question emerged: how to cultivate new industries and keep young people from leaving.
“The village was clean, but its overall development hadn’t kept pace,” said Liu Jianqun, Party head of Xujiadai village. “Traditional farming offered limited income growth, and rural tourism lacked distinctive features. We were unsure where to go next.”
A turning point emerged from a keen insight. Back then, Pinghu had attracted a number of Taiwan-funded and foreign-invested enterprises. Liu, himself a former professional manager, noticed that executives from these companies would often make trips to Shanghai just to play baseball. At the same time, an idle plot of land near the village entrance — low-lying and difficult to develop — sat unused. Then a bold idea struck him: Why not transform this land into a baseball field? It could serve the businessmen nearby while paving a new path for the village — one that blended sports with cultural tourism.
Turning this vision into reality proved challenging, requiring funding, expertise, and village consensus. Lindai township established a special coordination group to oversee land planning, policy support, and financing. Xujiadai organized volunteer teams to conduct household visits and village meetings, building community support.
In 2018, despite financial and technical hurdles and with no national precedent to follow, Xujiadai village completed China’s first standard-compliant youth baseball field in a rural setting. In 2019, a baseball tournament for youth in the Yangtze River Delta was successfully held there, marking an impressive debut.
The National Youth Baseball Championship U10 Group, the annual meeting of the Chinese Baseball Association, and other events soon followed. Xujiadai village became a national baseball training base for young players under the age of 10 and earned the title “China’s No. 1 Baseball Village.”
New challenges soon emerged. With baseball’s weak local foundation and scarce professional expertise, sustainable operation and promotion became pressing issues.
Lindai township explored an innovative model that combined professional management with villager participation. A professional sports company was brought in to handle event organization and training operations, while volunteer teams were formed to teach villagers basic baseball knowledge and involve them in field maintenance and logistical support.
“With the government providing the platform, professionals managing operations, market forces driving growth, and innovation fostering integration, this baseball business from the fields is flying farther and farther,” said Mo Yun, an official in Lindai township.
To date, the baseball field has hosted multiple high-level events including National Youth Baseball Championship finals, welcoming over one million athletes and visitors. Last July, the Xujiadai International Baseball Field opened, significantly upgrading event capacity.
Baseball has catalyzed development of ecological agriculture, homestays, catering, and educational tourism, forming a distinctive industrial cluster. Collective village income has surpassed 8 million yuan ($1.15 million).
“I used to make a living from a few plots of vegetables,” said Cao Huaying, a 62-year-old villager. “Now that the international baseball field is here, I work there as a cleaner year-round, and my income has increased a lot.”
Today, driven by baseball, the village has developed more than 20 specialty restaurants and homestays, created over 200 jobs for locals, and significantly increased per capita income. As Mo put it, with a baseball bat in hand, Xujiadai village has swung a magnificent arc across its fields — an arc powered by sports, integrated with industry, and dedicated to shared prosperity.
