The Ultimate (and Only) Guide to China's Pro Baseball League

By Ryan Gandolfo, August 23, 2019

China has a fully rebranded professional baseball league, which officially kicked off in Tianjin on August 15.

With just four teams from around the country – Beijing Tigers, Tianjin Lions, Guangdong Leopards and Jiangsu Pegasus, China National Baseball League (CNBL) is considered the smallest professional sports league in the PRC. But, the Chinese Baseball Association (CBA) is looking to build a larger following in the country with a revamped league schedule.

According to China Daily, the league was created in 2002 and would organize week-long tournaments. This year, however, the four teams will play 18 rounds of home and away games over the next two months. The top two squads will compete in a five-game championship series near the end of October.

Image via 中国棒球协会

With baseball’s return to the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, CBA’s president Chen Xu spoke about increasing awareness of baseball in the Middle Kingdom at the league’s launch ceremony in Beijing earlier this month. “After years of the sport being popularized and integrated into pop culture and now re-entering the Olympics, it’s time to try to build up to the top of the pyramid,” he told press, while adding, “Over the next 15 years, we are looking to build the CNBL into a mature league with a modern professional system that appeals to talent from neighboring countries.”

So whether you’re an avid baseball fan or just looking for something new to do on your weekends, these games are certainly an option.

Check out the remainder of the CNBL league schedule below!

Round 5 (Sat, August 24)
Tianjin Lions vs. Jiangsu Pegasus. 6.30pm. Wuxi.
Beijing Tigers vs. Guangdong Leopards. 6.30pm. Guangzhou

Round 6 (Sun, Aug 25)

Tianjin Lions vs. Jiangsu Pegasus. 10am. Wuxi.
Beijing Tigers vs. Guangdong Leopards. 10am. Guangzhou.

Round 7 (Fri, Aug 30)
Guangdong Leopards vs. Beijing Tigers. 2.30pm. Beijing.
Jiangsu Pegasus vs. Tianjin Lions. 6.30pm. Tianjin.

Round 8 (Sat, Aug 31)
Guangdong Leopards vs. Beijing Tigers. 2.30pm. Beijing.
Jiangsu Pegasus vs. Tianjin Lions. 6.30pm. Tianjin.

Round 9 (Sun, Sep 1)
Guangdong Leopards vs. Beijing Tigers. 10am. Beijing.
Jiangsu Pegasus vs. Tianjin Lions. 10am. Tianjin.

All-star Game (Sat and Sun, Sep 7-8)

Round 10 (Fri, Sep 13)
Beijing Tigers vs. Jiangsu Pegasus. 6.30pm. Wuxi.
Tianjin Lions vs. Guangdong Leopards. 6.30pm. Guangzhou.

Round 11 (Sat, Sep 14)
Beijing Tigers vs. Jiangsu Pegasus. 6.30pm. Wuxi.
Tianjin Lions vs. Guangdong Leopards. 6.30pm. Guangzhou.

Round 12 (Sun, Sep 15)
Beijing Tigers vs. Jiangsu Pegasus. 10am. Wuxi.
Tianjin Lions vs. Guangdong Leopards. 10am. Guangzhou.

Round 13 (Fri, Sep 20)

Tianjin Lions vs. Beijing Tigers. 6.30pm. Beijing.
Jiangsu Pegasus vs. Guangdong Leopards. 6.30pm. Guangzhou.

Round 14 (Sat, Sep 21)
Tianjin Lions vs. Beijing Tigers. 6.30pm. Beijing.
Jiangsu Pegasus vs. Guangdong Leopards. 6.30pm. Guangzhou.

Round 15 (Sun, Sep 22)
Tianjin Lions vs. Beijing Tigers. 6.30pm. Beijing.
Jiangsu Pegasus vs. Guangdong Leopards. 6.30pm. Guangzhou.

Round 16 (Fri, Oct 11)
Jiangsu Pegasus vs. Beijing Tigers. 6.30pm. Beijing.
Guangdong Leopards vs. Tianjin Lions. 6.30pm. Tianjin.

Round 17 (Sat, Oct 12)
Jiangsu Pegasus vs. Beijing Tigers. 6.30pm. Beijing.
Guangdong Leopards vs. Tianjin Lions. 6.30pm. Tianjin.

Round 18 (Sun, Oct 13)
Jiangsu Pegasus vs. Beijing Tigers. 10am. Beijing.
Guangdong Leopards vs. Tianjin Lions. 10am. Tianjin.

Championship Round (Oct 19-27)
TBD

This season’s schedule was published on Hupu.com. The Chinese Baseball Association has yet to reply to That’s for confirmation on the location of each team’s home stadium as well as ticket prices. But based on what we’ve gathered from the abysmally sparse announcements coming out of the league, we can tell you this: Tianjin hosted the first game of the season at Tianjin Sports Center Baseball Stadium, Guangdong has played at the Huangcun Sports Training Center Baseball Field in previous seasons and Jiangsu has called Wuxi Baseball Sports Training Center home in recent years. As for Beijing, previous games have been held inside Qinghua University.

Anyone with additional information on the league, feel free to share it!

[Cover image via 中国棒球协会]