Basketball has become a part of people’s daily life in Dongguan City of south China’s Guangdong Province, a host city for basketball matches of China’s 15th National Games.
The Games, co-hosted by Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, will officially open on Sunday evening.
Inside the Dongguan Basketball Center, basketball competitions for the Games are in full swing in Dongguan, with players battling it out on the court as fans cheer passionately from the stands.
The excitement is felt not just in the professional courts but across local neighborhoods.
In Bajiaowo Community of the city’s Wanjiang Subdistrict, a friendly basketball match organized by residents drew excited crowds of spectators, including a young mother with her five-month-old baby in her arms, watching her husband taking an active part in the game.
From the professional courts of the National Games to the brightly lit village playgrounds, basketball in Dongguan is more than a sport but a lifestyle. The city now boasts nearly 6,000 basketball courts, enabling residents to find a place to play within a 15-minute walk.
Well-developed sports facilities and a thriving basketball culture have laid a strong foundation for Dongguan to host the National Games.
Many students begin systematic training from a young age.
“The games I watched when I was younger inspired me to play basketball myself,” said Chen Feng, a member of a basketball team from Dongguan Guangming Middle School.
“Here we have games every month or even every day. Parents are happy to see their children put what they learn in training into more competitive and formal competitions,” said Zhang Jianqiang, an official with the Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism, and Sports.
Basketball craze spreads in Dongguan hosting15th National Games’ basketball match
As the U.S. federal government shutdown enters its 43rd day, its impact on domestic air travel continues to intensify, causing significant disruptions for passengers nationwide ahead of the Thanksgiving holidays.
In response to a shortage of air traffic controllers, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated that airlines reduce flights. The order, initially affecting 40 major U.S. airports starting Nov 7, escalated to a 6-percent reduction on Tuesday. Major airports including those in Chicago, New York, Washington, Atlanta, and Dallas-Fort Worth have been impacted.
On Wednesday, 890 flights had been canceled and 750 more were delayed.
Several airlines have begun proactively canceling flights and offering refunds to affected passengers. The FAA has announced plans to increase these cuts to 8 percent on Thursday and 10 percent on Friday to mitigate the staffing crisis. On Tuesday alone, over 1,200 flights across the United States were canceled, with more than 1,650 domestic and international flights experiencing delays.
More air traffic controllers have been showing up for work in recent days despite going unpaid.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that the air traffic control workforce has been working without pay for 42 days due to the shutdown, warning that it could take several days for the aviation system to return to normal operations.
A potential resolution to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history emerged when the Senate passed a temporary spending package on Monday evening. The package was subsequently sent to the House of Representatives, whose members reconvened on Tuesday after a 53-day recess to vote on the legislation.
The travel chaos directly affected lawmakers returning to Washington. With widespread flight cancellations, several House members were forced to seek alternative transportation. Reports indicate that Republican representatives from states like Arkansas and Mississippi carpooled, while some representatives from Wisconsin undertook a 16-hour motorcycle journey to reach Washington.
US gov’t shutdown disrupts air travel as flight cuts escalate
