Memes the breaks

While the standard of play on the pitch might not be world class, the humorous banter among fans, especially online, often is.

The well-known Chinese phrase encouraging good sportsmanship — "Friendship comes first, the match second" — was given a twist. When the slogan "The match comes first, friendship fourteenth" surfaced on the official WeChat account of the Nanjing city government it struck a chord with netizens.

With "Fighting for city honor" as its motto, the inaugural Suchao, was no longer restricted to stadiums in the province. The humorous online exchanges between opposing fans spread across the country, turning the league into a "nationwide carnival" within just a month.

Li Pei, a restaurant owner in Changzhou, had little interest in soccer until his customers began incessantly discussing the Suchao. He said it was the banter between the cities' fans that piqued his interest.

"City showdowns always have unique interpretations, such as the savory-sweet (food) rivalry between Nanjing and Wuxi, the culinary competition between Yangzhou and Huai'an, and so on, which I find quite engaging," he said.

When the first round of matches kicked off on May 10, attendance was poor. Images shared by netizens from the Suzhou versus Suqian match revealed mostly empty seats.

The turning point came during the second-round clash between Suqian and Xuzhou. Netizens labeled it an updated version of the legendary war between the Chu and Han kingdoms 2,200 years ago, which changed the course of Chinese history.

Xiang Yu was the king of the Chu Kingdom, while Liu Bang was the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty (206 BC to AD 220).

Pitting Xiang Yu's hometown against Liu Bang's, the physicality of the match exceeded fans' expectations. The medical teams of both sides were called on to the pitch 19 times during the game, with six players stretchered off the field, netizens noted.

The meme "No match-fixing, no biased referees, only long-standing rivalries" quickly swamped social media.

After that, the phrases "atomized Jiangsu" and "internal strife" went viral on the internet. Historically, Jiangsu has undergone multiple administrative division adjustments, with cities belonging to different cultural regions consolidated into one province. This consolidation has contributed to the fierce competitiveness, especially when it comes to economic prowess, that exists among the cities today.

Jiangsu's 13 cities are all among the top 100 in China in terms of regional GDP, with Nanjing, Changzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou and Nantong all exceeding 1 trillion yuan ($139 billion).

Internet celebrity Daodaofu was one of the first to create short videos on social media about "atomized Jiangsu".

The 36-year-old tells stories of the rivalry of the"13 taibao", or "outlaw" cities of Jiangsu and sees this simply as healthy competition. In his view, Suchao reflects a mentality of "You're good, but I want to be better".

"While maintaining a sense of competition, they embrace mutual appreciation and respect, and transform the competition on the pitch into positive energy that promotes common development," he said.

Daodaofu has continuously created videos about the league and as of Sunday, his Douyin followers exceeded 2.5 million.

The cultural and tourism administrations in the cities are also constantly stirring each other up.

Before the match between Yangzhou and Taizhou, a Yangzhou TV station displayed jokes about Taizhou on a large screen. One referenced Yangzhou appearing many times in the popular Tang Dynasty (618-907) anthology Three Hundred Poems. It read, "I've gone through 300 Tang poems but still couldn't find your name".

Changzhou, Wuxi and Suzhou, clustered around the Taihu Lake, are known as the "Three Lords of Taihu Lake" due to their robust economies. However, their stumbling performances in the league have earned them the satirical title the "Three Fools of Taihu Lake".