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
Thai and Cambodian leaders must find a way to resolve their differences through talks and not on the battlefield, according to a former Thai foreign minister, who also believes China could be in a unique position to serve as a mediator given its strong ties with both sides.
Border clashes between the two sides have reignited since Dec 7 -- less than two months after the two sides signed a joint peace declaration -- with both trading the blame for instigating the attacks.
The latest round of fighting has left at least 19 Thai soldiers and 19 Thai civilians dead, with over 270,000 people displaced, Thailand's defense ministry announced on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, on the same day, the Cambodian Defense Ministry said that 17 civilians have been killed and 77 injured as the Thai military forces have continued airstrikes and artillery shelling into Cambodian territory, with over 438,000 individuals fleeing their homes.
With the two sides continuing to point the finger of blame and trade accusations of attacks on civilians, peace talks appear to be a long way off.
Kasit Piromya, who formerly served as Thailand's Minister of Foreign Affairs, urged the two countries' leaders to put people first, set aside their pride and find a resolution.
"The people must be the priority, not the victory or losses or the battlefield. It's detrimental and destructive to all. It is easy to arouse the passion, but [the sign of] great leaders, great statesmen is to be able to overcome the nationalistic sentiment and come back to the sense and sensibility and to start to talk with one another," he said.
China has called for utmost restraint and every possible measure conducive to a ceasefire to ensure de-escalation of tensions as soon as possible, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman told a daily press briefing on Monday.
China supports direct dialogue and consultation between the two countries, as well as the efforts of ASEAN -- and Malaysia, in particular -- to promote peace talks, and the pursuit of a mutually acceptable solution within the ASEAN framework, according to the spokesman.
Piromya said he believes China could play a constructive role in a peace process between the two sides.
"China has been having, I think, more or less an excellent bilateral relationship respectively with Thailand and Cambodia. So China is in a very unique and great position to bring the two sides, Cambodia and Thailand, together," Piromya said.
Former official urges Thailand, Cambodia to make people priority, end border clashes
