A girl collects a Suchao stamp in Nantong. [Photo/ntjoy]

While Team Nantong excels on the soccer field at the Jiangsu Football City League, or Suchao, a cultural and creative storm is brewing off the pitch with equal fervor in Nantong, Jiangsu province.

Many local cultural and creative brands have designed canvas bags, badges, and more cleverly integrating Nantong culture with the latest soccer trends.

Creative designers have combined badges with blue calico cloth, introducing the Zhuangyuan Wolf figure. Canvas bags adorned with humorous slogans like "Fatal Wolf Warrior" and "Nanball King" are designed to appeal to younger customers.

According to the head of the Nantong Helibo cultural and creative brand, several of the brand's new products priced between 15 (about $2) and 68 yuan have proven popular shortly after debuting on Xiaohongshu, or RedNote. Five styles of canvas bags were launched at the end of June, with the initial batch of over 300 items selling out completely.

A paper-cut by Liu Jing portrays the Nantong Wolf and Yancheng Elk competing on the field. [Photo/ntjoy]

Simultaneously, the cultural and creative brand has partnered with a hotel at the Beishi scenic area in Tangzha Ancient Town. Football fans and tourists can collect unique cultural and creative stamps simply by staying at the hotel, intertwining the excitement of watching games, experiencing traditional culture, and exploring the city.

Liu Jing, a representative practitioner of Nantong paper-cutting and a teacher at Nantong University's School of Art, has also recently started creating paper-cuts related to Suchao as a way to wish Team Nantong the best. In one of her works, the Nantong Wolf and Yancheng Elk compete on the green field, with the Nantong Football Training Center in Rugao faintly visible in the background.