GUIYANG, China - The new season of Village Super League, dubbed "Cun Chao", kicked off on Saturday in Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou province.

According to the organizers, a total of 62 teams joined this year's competition, and the preliminaries will run from Jan 6 to Feb 24, and the finals will be held from March to May.

Zhang Letian, a football enthusiast from Bawang Village, said that the team he joined was built in last November and mainly consists of college students. The football team has played seven to eight friendlies without a single defeat, being regarded as a dark horse in the coming new season.

"New and strong teams will make 'Cun Chao' more competitive and entertaining," said Wu Huayong, a team member of Pingdi Village which reached the quarterfinals last season.

Wu added that the new season allows each team to introduce five high-level amateur players from across the province, which will also increase the uncertainty in the preliminaries.

In 2023, the Village Super League in Rongjiang County, having attracted 20 teams, made a hit in China and the world for its down-to-earth nature, festive atmosphere and frequent world-class goal-scoring performances.

Over the past year, "Cun Chao" received more than 58 billion page views online. From May 13 to Oct 28, 2023, Rongjiang county attracted more than 5.19 million tourists, achieving a comprehensive tourism income of about 5.99 billion yuan (about 838.99 million US dollars).