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Maihe Village is about three kilometers away from Zhanjiang West Station in Guangdong Province. Now it has been given a new name by tour groups: "Champion Village".

The three characters "Quan Hongchan" were designed to be the most conspicuous large font, located in the center of the line of sight. The small font below reads: 2024 Paris Olympics, Women's Single 10-meter Diving Platform Champion, Women's Synchronized 10-meter Diving Platform Champion. The accompanying picture is a photo of Quan Hongchan holding a gold medal and cheering, with a gleam in her eyes.

Now, this place has become the first "check-in point" in Quan Hongchan's hometown.

Back to the night of August 6, 2024, the news that Quan Hongchan won the Olympic gold medal came from faraway Paris, instantly igniting the village.In front of the Quan family ancestral hall, the villagers gathered together, and the sounds of fireworks and firecrackers echoed in the air for a long time.At that time, Quan Weiping, a villager in his sixties, couldn't help but pat his chest vigorously during the interview, and a flush of excitement appeared on his face.

The attention brought by Quan Hongchan's title defense has increased compared to the summer of the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. People call her a genius girl, admire how she broke through the development barrier during the Paris Olympic cycle, and compare her and her teammate Chen Yuxi to twin stars.

The rising enthusiasm spread from the Paris arena to her hometown.The popularity that followed the champion turned the quiet village into a bustling tourist attraction overnight - the "Cradle of Champions".

About 200 to 300 meters into the village, the next "check-in point" appeared: the gate of Quan Hongchan's hometown. Two meters away, there was a huge poster of Quan Hongchan holding a gold medal, with five big words "Friends, Welcome" written on it.

It is not easy to take a photo with "Quan Hongchan" alone. There are too many tourists - there are always several people in the camera at the same time, each taking their own photos. People don't mind sharing the picture with strangers, the only thing to be careful about is not to cover Quan Hongchan's face and name.

Visitors bring business. It took less than a week for the first snack stall to pop up and for more than 100 vendors to set up long queues. The entire "scenic area" consists of these two check-in points and a snack street. Keep a walking pace and leave time for staying. An hour is more than enough to complete the whole tour, and less than half an hour if you are fast.

Soon, "A large number of tourists flocked to Quan Hongchan's hometown and a snack street was formed" became a hot search on Weibo.The added popularity has attracted a new influx of people - checking in, setting up stalls, and live streaming to sell goods, with thousands of people setting foot in Maihe Village every day.

Criticisms are growing louder. On August 12, Sina Hotspot launched a related poll, and about 75% of netizens said it was "difficult to understand."

In the comments section of the topic, there are two distinct views. Some people think that the countryside needs to be peaceful, while others see it as a good thing, saying that "rural people are tired and sick, and they don't have much money. If they can make money, these disturbances are nothing." The consensus outside the controversy is that the noise, onlookers and cameras will disturb Quan Hongchan's family.

On August 15, Quan Hongchan's father shared mooncakes with tourists at the doorstep, saying "thank you and welcome everyone". Before that, he said his wife was in poor health and did not live in the village, and he also lived and worked in the orchard, so his life was not disturbed, and he welcomed everyone to visit the village.

These responses did not allay public concerns.When a talented young Olympic champion is born in a quiet village, will it be followed by a farce of chasing traffic, or will it be a new form of local cultural tourism that emerges from the bottom up?With questions in mind, Phoenix.com went to Maihe Village in Zhanjiang, Guangdong to conduct an on-site investigation.

At 7:30 pm on August 15, 500 meters away from the entrance of Maihe Village, the navigation showed red and yellow lights, and there was a traffic jam. A new sign for Maihe Village was marked on the road. When I arrived at the entrance of the village, I saw street lights, colored lights and car lights alternating, reflecting clusters of people.

Quan Zhenwei, a 63-year-old villager, told Phoenix.com,When there are many people, the four newly built parking lots are full., even the roadside is full of cars - the most are Yue G, and there are also Yue A, Yue B, Yue E from the province... and those from farther away come from Gui A, Qiong A and Su E.

In July 2021, Phoenix.com visited Maihe Village before the Tokyo Olympics. At that time, we asked three or five villagers before we found the specific location of Quan Hongchan's home.Three years later, you just need to follow the direction of the crowd to get there.

The village has also changed. The road leading into the village has been widened and paved with asphalt, and the red bricks on the main road have been uniformly painted yellow.

As you walk in, you can see Olympic elements everywhere. There are two or three red banners with the words "Congratulations to Quan Hongchan for winning the championship"; the roast meat stall has "Gold Medal Roasted Pig" written in regular script on red paper; the front of the cart selling milk tea has the moment when Quan Hongchan bit the Olympic gold medal printed on it. As for the Olympic glasses that Quan Hongchan wore and the little turtle ornaments that she loved, people have also set up stalls to sell them.

Here, you can see all kinds of national food street standard: New Orleans chicken legs, hand-made lemon tea, grilled cold noodles, starch sausage; ring toss, toy stalls; motorcycles, tricycles, carts, and dreamy ice cream trucks; and the must-have for Internet celebrity attractions - the "Miss you, the wind blows to Maihe" signpost. So far, an ordinary rural road has completed the transformation of a national pedestrian street.

There were not enough stalls, so some people pulled suitcases to sell Olympic glasses, and some people hung various small commodities on their bodies and walked along the street. A dental clinic quickly made a batch of fans, printed clinic advertisements on them, and distributed them for free - in less than an afternoon, almost everyone on the street had one.

In order to maintain the popularity, the villagers used their imagination to the utmost.There are two phoenix trees at the gate of Quan Hongchan’s hometown. Many tourists interpret auspicious meanings from them and touch and take pictures of them just to get a share of the joy.So, a villager put up a sign that read "Water Splash Disappearing Tree" and started selling Phoenix tree seedlings next door, 38 yuan a piece. The proprietress smiled and said that she had no experience in setting up a snack stand, so she thought of selling tree seedlings, "and I can also see the tourists coming."

The anchors also enjoyed the dividends brought by traffic. A post-90s anchor from Maoming, Guangdong told Phoenix.com that Quan Hongchan's hometown is very popular and can attract traffic to the live broadcast room. The camera only needs to be pointed at the tourists in the snack street, accompanied by sales explanations, and traffic will come naturally.

The number of people online in the live broadcast room ranged from dozens to tens of thousands. A host from Northeast China walked around the village and live-broadcasted what he saw and heard in Maihe Village; another amateur host from Hunan was traveling nearby and came to broadcast a live show.

Some live broadcast teams are stationed in Zhanjiang with both people and goods.A company selling tolo pancakes in Maoming City sent 11 people directly to Maihe Village.They wore uniform green clothes and carried bamboo baskets with beautifully packaged snacks on their shoulders, creating a strong sense of specialty. The number of viewers of some popular live broadcast rooms exceeded 10,000 from time to time.

At 5:00 a.m. the next morning, before the rain had stopped, a livestreaming team selling mooncakes set out from Maoming, 100 kilometers away. They hadn't had time to book a place to stay, so they rushed to look for a livestreaming location. They had their eyes on a balcony across from Quan Hongchan's home, but ultimately failed to reach an agreement.

Among the people who came to check in,The largest group is parents and childrenAt 6:30 a.m. on August 16, the first wave of people with their children arrived at the village. This was a rare time of day when cars could drive into the village smoothly. Parents took a few photos with their children and left in a hurry. The whole process took less than 10 minutes.

An elderly couple came with their three-month-old granddaughter to "share in the good fortune"; a father came all the way from Hebei with his two daughters who love diving, hoping that they could qualify for the next Olympics.

More people followed with a simple mood. Unlike ordinary attractions, many people who came to check in had a look of excitement and joy on their faces.A 92-year-old man, wearing a 50th anniversary party member medal on his chest, came to visit from the neighboring city of Maoming, accompanied by two family members.According to his family, the old man specifically asked to come and take a look.The old man's hearing was not very good, but when he caught Quan Hongchan's name, he tremblingly called her a "national treasure."

This place has also been included in the route planning of travel companies.A travel company in Maoming took the opportunity to launch a one-day tour covering "Quan Hongchan's hometown", which is divided into shopping groups and pure play groups, with prices ranging from tens to hundreds of yuan.There are also local travel companies that organize tours for seniors, with 98 yuan a day to visit two or three scenic spots, with Maihe Village as the first stop. In the tour group's advertisements, Maihe Village has a new name, "Olympic Village" or "Champion Village".

Even the location of Quan Hongchan's home has been talked about by people from all walks of life. Some people compare the location of the house to a "dragon head";Another person who came all the way from Guangzhou described to the crowd the way the leaves of the two phoenix trees at the door swayed in the wind, and said that the layout of the family's old house was called "feng shui rotation."

Leaving the bustling snack street, only a few tourists walked deep into Maihe Village. Two young people who were on a business trip from Shanghai and came to visit walked around the red brick houses in the village that had been uninhabited for a long time and asked the villagers about the history of the village.

When the quiet village was transformed into an "Olympic Champion Scenic Spot" by the huge traffic, the lives of all the local people were changed to varying degrees.

In order to welcome the surging crowd and the enthusiasm, the local authorities did their best to provide reception. At least five traffic police were directing traffic at the entrance of the village at the same time, and police and special police were stationed at the door of Quan Hongchan's house. Township cadres, social workers, sanitation workers and student volunteers all came. More than a dozen villagers were also called over to do what they could.

According to the Zhanjiang Daily, the district, town and village levels were all mobilized to maintain the sanitation and transportation of Maihe Village and ensure safety and order.

Three years ago, Phoenix.com interviewed Quan Nanshan, the village party secretary, in the office of Maihe Village Committee. At that time, he worked alone in the office. Today, the village committee has several more staff members. A staff member of the village propaganda department described their work this way: "With so many people and snack stalls, there is basically no garbage on the road."

New jobs were created. Young people set up stalls, and some elderly people with good mobility were selected to maintain order or do cleaning work.

Quan Zhenwei, 63, has gray hair on his temples. He is mainly responsible for cleaning the parking lot and earns 150 yuan a day.He hadn't found a job for a long time before he got this opportunity."There is no work to do. I am too old to work." He worked as a security guard for several years but was fired last year because of his age.

There are also higher paying jobs available.Quannan, 66, gets 200 yuan a day, which also includes two meals at work.When he was young, he worked as a shopping mall manager, accountant, security guard, etc. He did "everything". This time he is mainly responsible for maintaining order in the village, working from 8 am to 11 pm every day, with two breaks in the middle, a total of three and a half hours. He feels it is very hard, but he also "feels proud of the village".

An 80-year-old villager also found a job as a garbage collector. He carried a garbage bag and a pair of tongs to clean up the garbage in the snack street, earning more than 100 yuan a day.

The people who set up stalls in Maihe Village are both locals and outsiders, and most of them originally run small mobile businesses. There is no rent for the stalls, and they can set up stalls in prime locations. The competition is about who is more informed.

The villagers naturally have an information advantage. Two days before Quan Hongchan competed in the women's 10-meter platform diving final, fans came to visit the front door of the family, and several business-minded villagers started selling drinks and snacks nearby.

As the heat rises,With Quan Hongchan's home as the center, the mobile stalls naturally extend outward like vines. The closer the stalls are to Quan Hongchan's home, the stronger their relationship with the village.

After the snack street was basically completed, 36-year-old villager Quan Shuo and his wife thought of setting up a stall. The good locations were gone. Fortunately, a relative had a store on the street, and they put in a few good words, so they set up a toy stall next to it and also sold grilled sausages.

Even those from other villages have some connection with Maihe Village. Li Dayong, 40, is from the next village. He used to sell sweet soup in front of a nearby school. When his relatives told him that business was good here, he took the opportunity to get a good spot.

Xu Xue, 26, from a neighboring village, also relied on her relatives in Maihe Village to pass on information and seized the business opportunity. She usually sells breakfast at a street corner, but there is no business after 10 a.m.It was late that day and Xu Xue could only find an empty space next to the trash can.The open space of one or two square meters, with a wall behind it, can support a large umbrella. There is an alley next to it, and there is a crosswind from time to time. Most importantly, this is the closest position to the center of the circle.

Xu Xue has three children, the oldest is about to enter primary school, and the youngest is learning to speak. "It feels very hard, but every bit of money I can earn is good." She always sets up her stall at random locations, and will move if she encounters urban management officers. Anyway, she will "go wherever there is a lot of activity."

After setting up a stall here, she has a fixed stall and her income has doubled. She can make 300 to 400 yuan a day after deducting costs. She said this is a small business. She envies the lemon tea stall next door with lower costs. A vendor posted a screenshot showing that he can sell 652 cups of lemon tea a day and is preparing to buy two more large tea barrels for stock. But "you have to pay to learn, and you can't get the taste by yourself."

After selling her goods, Xu Xue often stayed a little longer, fearing that her stall would be taken by someone else. The vendors marked their territory with just a table and a chair. When there were occasional disputes over stalls, the staff of the stall management team would intervene to deal with them.

Young people rely more on the Internet to get information. Chen Yin, a boy born in the 1990s, decided to set up a stall in Maihe Village after watching the live broadcast. He sells 3D printed dinosaur ornaments and fortune goldfish on the busiest pedestrian street in Zhanjiang City. He feels that he has come to the right place."It's like Chinese New Year. Some people used to only sell one or two orders, but here they can probably get hundreds of orders."After deducting the cost, Chen Yin can earn 500 to 600 yuan a day.The income is several times higher than before.

The stall owner who came the farthest was Zhao Xichang from Henan. He is in his 50s and came to Zhanjiang from his hometown Zhoukou three months ago to set up a stall to sell Jiangxiang cakes. His relative runs a restaurant in the local area. He heard diners talking about this snack street and told him the news, so he rode his tricycle over. He went around the snack street several times but couldn't find a stall, so he had to set up a stall at the entrance of the village. He was chased away several times because he affected traffic.He pleaded with the person at the stall next to him, "It's not easy to earn a little money, right?" Later, the other party moved in a little, leaving him two square meters of space.

The village's grocery store has also been popular. Jingjing's grocery store is deep in the village, about 200 meters away from Quan Hongchan's home. In the past, grandma would buy goods once every two weeks, but now she does so once a week. Cigarettes and mineral water are the fastest-selling items.

Lili, who sells goat's trotters, told Phoenix.com that she can only prepare the ingredients the night before if she sets up a stall during the day. She runs a goat meat shop with her husband and brother. Since the shop opened, after the stall closes at 11pm, her husband has to wash and cook the ingredients, and she helps him out until 5 or 6am. At 9am, her brother takes over the stall, and she wakes up to help. They "have not raised the price" and "earn hard-earned money".

Of course, what also changed was the tranquility of the village and Quan Hongchan's family.

Snack stalls are set up at nine o'clock every morning and remain open until eleven or twelve o'clock at night.The flow of people reached its peak at 3 p.m. and has remained there ever since. In the afternoon of mid-August, the temperature reached 31 degrees, and the heat mixed with the humidity from the rain attacked everyone outside. But at the door of Quan Hongchan's house, there was a constant flow of tourists who came to check in for an entire hour. The noise continued.

There is also the issue of privacy. Walking around the snack street, you will be photographed by at least dozens of cell phone cameras. The cameras are not aimed at the anchors, but at the moving crowds. In addition, tourists are everywhere taking out their cell phones to take pictures.Occasionally, there are drones hovering in the sky.

The place with the highest density of cameras was the door to Quan Hongchan's house. Some people raised their selfie sticks, and some put their phones through the fence and into the yard. These cameras and eyes behind them disturbed this simple two-story building.

Three years ago, after Quan Hongchan won the championship, the popularity of the village gathered for about half a month, and then gradually dissipated. How long can the traffic of the snack street last this year? At least for now, there is still no end in sight.

Even the "Ghost Festival" did not reduce the popularity of the snack street.In the local area, the "Ghost Festival" and the traditional Zhongyuan Festival are held in the middle of the seventh lunar month, and people have the custom of not going out at night. However, those two days are weekends, and the snack street night market is still bustling until 10 pm. The closing time is even later, and in order to make more money, stall owners often wait until the streets are empty before they start to close their stalls.

In the face of the spontaneous influx of traffic, the local government also responded. The Zhanjiang Daily named the doorstep of Quan Hongchan's house a "civilized check-in spot", saying that the lives of the villagers were not greatly affected.And publish a push introduction - Quan Hongchan's hometown, there are more "check-in spots" that cannot be missed; "Zhanjiang Release" used the title "Zhanjiang Internet Celebrity Village Map" and took the opportunity to launch promotional copy for other villages.

If the territory of Guangdong is compared to a fish, Zhanjiang is like the tail of the fish, far away from the most developed Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Economic data for the first half of 2024 showed that among the 21 prefecture-level cities in Guangdong, Zhanjiang's GDP growth rate ranked last, second from the bottom.

How to rejuvenate the fish tail is the question at hand. On August 15, the official WeChat account of CCTV’s Agricultural Channel commented:"When Quan Hongchan brings popularity to her hometown, how can she play this traffic card well?"

The population of Maihe Village is about 2,500, and young people account for about 30%. The Quan family is the majority in the village. Villagers rely on growing fruit trees, doing odd jobs, and running small businesses to support their families. "The village has always been very good," said 70-year-old Uncle Quan. He is a retired teacher from Maihe Primary School, and Uncle Quan Hongchan was his student. When I met him, he was explaining the Quan Clan Ancestral Hall to tourists for free. This ancestral hall was rebuilt in 2001. Walking inside, you can see the words "Wukui". The ancestral hall means the foundation and destination of the family. Whenever there are weddings and funerals, the clan members are used to holding activities here.The plaque marking Quan Hongchan’s victory was placed at the entrance of the ancestral hall.

Phoenix.com randomly interviewed more than ten villagers.From children to young people to the elderly, everyone is delighted by the influx of tourists into the village.——Even if they don’t set up stalls and don’t directly benefit from it."I like the hustle and bustle" and "I'm not disturbed" are the most common answers in the interview.

If one day the bustle returns to tranquility, most people on this snack street will return to their original lives.

An auntie who was hired to look after the stall has made up her mind to return to the school cafeteria where she previously worked in a few days.

Li Dayong, the owner of a dessert shop, has decided to return to his previous stall after school starts. Although there is a lot of traffic here, his regular customers are all in his original shop.

Quan Shuo thinks,This wave of enthusiasm will probably gradually subside after school starts."There is a primary school next to it. Even if there are people, they may not be allowed to set up stalls for safety reasons." He and his wife do not have stable jobs. If they stop setting up stalls, his wife will go home to continue planting fruit trees, and he will earn money by doing odd jobs. He has the contact information of the foreman, and goes to the construction site to harden the ground, sell fruit, and do decoration. "Whatever work there is, I will do it."

At nine o'clock in the evening, fewer tourists entered the village. At ten o'clock, the flow of people turned to the entrance of the village, and some open space finally appeared in the middle of the snack street. The stall owners drove their tricycles back home one after another. At eleven o'clock, a person who was live-streaming and selling goods in front of Quan Hongchan's house moved to a corner and squatted to continue live-streaming. At half past eleven, a tourist took the opportunity to take a photo of the door of Quan Hongchan's house, which was rarely empty. Several villagers were cleaning a long-abandoned cowshed, preparing to open a breakfast shop the next day.

No villager knows how long the days of exchanging people for money can last. They choose to grab every bit they can get.

In an interview with CCTV's "Face to Face", when asked how she hopes others will treat her, Quan Hongchan said calmly: "I hope to be treated as a normal person. I don't want so many people around me."

Towards the early morning of August 18, the last few tourists walked to the entrance of the village. Looking back, they saw the lights of the snack street still on in the distance, separated by a dark road.

At the request of the interviewees, Quan Shuo, Li Dayong, and Xu Xue

Chen Yin, Jing Jing and Li Li are pseudonyms