By Sportswriters Yao Youming and Li Li
XI'AN, March 21 (Xinhua) -- When Ding Qizhou boarded the train from Xi'an, capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, to the neighboring city of Weinan, he didn't take a nap or read a book in his seat as usual. Instead, he stood singing and drumming along with 20 fellow football fans in the cabin for a duration of the 40-minute journey.
Ding and 1,131 other passengers were on board the train which had been specially arranged to bring fans of China League One side Chang'an Athletic to Weinan, where the club is temporarily playing its home games due to its old stadium in Xi'an being renovated.
"I was proud to be on our special train," said an excited Ding, proudly wearing a red Chang'an jersey with stickers of the club logo on his cheek.
The passengers received a welcoming ceremony at Weinan railway station upon arrival, before getting on a series of shuttle buses to the Weinan Sports Center, the temporary home of Chang'an Athletic.
And the trip was worth it, as more than 20,000 spectators witnessed the home team defeat Qingdao Huanghai 3-0, their groundbreaking victory in the second division league.
Ding was thrilled by the victory. The white collar worker didn't fall in love with the club when it was first established just three years ago. As a newcomer to Shaanxi, he didn't even know a lot about local football until March 29, 2016, when he sat in the stadium in Xi'an and watched China's national team beat Qatar 2-0 in a 2018 FIFA World Cup Asian Zone Groups C qualifying match.
"The atmosphere at the stadium touched my heart. The passion of football fans in Shaanxi impressed me, so I decided to become a fan of the local team," Ding said.
Chang'an Athletic began playing in China's third division in the 2017 season. But then Ding was sent to work in Yulin, a city 450 kilometers away from Xi'an. Still, he bought a season ticket in the hope of going back to see some matches when he was not working. When at work, he kept himself informed of the latest team news from the fans' association on Chinese social network WeChat.
In the 2018 season, Chang'an Athletic took third place in the third division. But in the promotion playoffs, the team lost to Guangdong South China Tigers 3-2 in a two-legged tie, meaning the two-year-old team failed to gain promotion to China's second division.
Ding cried during the decisive defeat at the stadium, holding a placard that said: "We won't leave you even when you fail."
A turning point for the team occurred on February 26, when Yanbian Fude Football Club officially declared bankruptcy and dissolved. The next day, the Shaanxi team announced that it would take Yanbian's place to play in the Chinese second division for the 2019 season.
When Ding saw the announcement, the 26-year-old shouted out the team slogan on the streets, "Shaanxi team, a northwest wolf!"
"People on the street must have thought I was mad," he said.
But since the temporary move to Weinan, the 70 kilometers between the two cities has become a headache for fans in Xi'an. However, thanks to the rapid development of China's railway network, the time spent on traveling has been shortened.
And the local railway bureaus of both cities have decided to help the fans out. On March 14, the first-ever special train for local football fans departed from Xi'an, carrying over 1,000 supporters to the newly-promoted team's first match in the new season.
"Many of my colleagues are also football fans, so we contacted the fans' association and offered to lay on special trains for them," said Zhu Ming, a conductor at Xi'an railway station.
A record number of 26,370 fans packed the stadium in Weinan, even though the home team lost 1-0 to Heilongjiang that afternoon.
"I want to sincerely thank the Xi'an and Weinan railway bureaus for their considerate service, which is a big help for our fans and our club," said Ke Xingping, head of the Shaanxi football fan association.
Although Shaanxi is less developed than China's coastal provinces in the country's east and south, it is well known as a football-loving province. The region previously had a team, Shaanxi National Power, from 1996 to 2005. That side won China's second division in 2000, but was disqualified from the Chinese Football Association in 2004, and was disbanded the following year due to financial mismanagement.
In 2004, Shaanxi also had a first division club, Shaanxi Chanba, but the franchise moved to Guizhou in 2011 after being attracted by better funding in China's southwest.
But despite so many years without a top-flight club, the local people's passion for football remains intact.
"We are moved by the fans who take the trains to watch our games, and by the special service of local railway bureaus," said Chen Lei, deputy general manager of Chang'an Athletic. "With their support, we have every reason to feel confident that we can play even better in the future."
