Strong connection

Yang is an experienced photographer who has won awards before, but never anything on this scale, with this level of exposure — something that he says made him want to take part in the competition.

"Food is something very important to our town, so I have paid a lot of attention to it and to the local scenery," Yang said.

"I do landscapes and humanistic shots, I don't limit myself, but particularly at times like New Year, I like to focus on the things that make my hometown special — like this food. I'm so pleased to have this opportunity to promote Xiangshan to the world."

Another Chinese entrant who enjoyed a successful evening was Ren Xiuting, who managed seven placings, including winning the Food in the Family category with the image New Year in Old Cave Dwelling, and third place in the Street Food and Bring Home the Harvest categories.

Liu Min won the special class for Chinese photographers with his image Care, showing an elderly man being served at a wedding banquet, which was one of his three placed entries.

Jin Wei also managed three placings, with his picture Hot Nang from the Oven coming third in both the Food in Action categories, and also the regional award.

Other Chinese entrants whose work was particularly praised by the judging panel, made up of people from the worlds of food and photography, included Li Jianping, Tianming Zhang, Ren Xiuting and the overall competition winner from 2021, Li Huaifeng.