City stories from streets of inspiration

At the awards ceremony, Xu said he has been touched by many moments from the participants' works, ranging from a Swedish artist who dreamed of coming back to Beijing to continue learning about folk art in the capital city to a Mexican woman who expressed her longing for Beijing in a rendition of a Tang Dynasty (618-907) poem.

"People have their own reasons for falling in love with Beijing. Some love its beautiful scenery and delicious food, others love its grand inclusiveness, entrepreneurial vitality, or diverse culture," Xu says.

"Today, through short videos and inspiring quotes, we listen to everyone's stories about Beijing and share the reasons why we all love this city."

In the future, more effort will be made to adapt to the trends of mobile, social and visual international communication to tell the stories of Beijing and convey the voice of the city, according to the authorities.

"The innovative development of culture requires the participation of more friends. We look forward to welcoming more international friends to Beijing, discovering the treasures of Beijing," Xu says.

The competition has altogether attracted more than 3,000 participants from around the globe and nearly 5,000 short video entries since the first edition.

The overall quality of the works that made the shortlist is consistently at a high level, says Zhan Xinhui, a professor from the School of Journalism, Communication University of China, and a judge of the competition.

She says she is impressed by the diverse topics and the nice delivery of stories, especially when considering some of the works were made during the pandemic control.

"Participants are from different countries and walks of life, such as restaurant owner, yoga trainer, teacher, journalist, scholar from Asia, Europe, Africa and South America," Zhan says.

"We can clearly appreciate their creative ideas and earnest feelings, especially a compelling desire to tell a good story about Beijing," she adds.