Will you fall in love with a city? 

Foreigners from more than 100 nations have given "Beijing" as their answer in the just-concluded 4th "100 Reasons to Love Beijing" short-video contest, the award ceremony of which was held in Beijing Library on Thursday.

The contest, organized by the Information Office of Beijing Municipality and hosted by China Daily, was open to global participants to share their love for the city and tell their stories about it.

Launched in September 2023 and open until the end of December, almost 2,000 short video clips were submitted for the contest in total. Among these submissions, 100 were recognized as exemplary, with 20 ultimately chosen to win awards. In addition, this year's competition first introduced a comic illustration category, receiving a total of 360 comic illustrations drawn by foreigners, resulting in 10 individual awards.

Zhao Yi, who got a prize for her illustration, delivers an acceptance speech. 

At the award ceremony, He Ping, Deputy Director General of the Publicity Department of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, delivered a speech stating that Beijing has always served as the national cultural center and it is the capital's responsibility to carry forward its cultural legacy. The "100 Reasons to Love Beijing" short video contest is a platform to showcase Beijing's unique charm and a window for more people to understand and fall in love with the city, he said.

Liu Weiling, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of China Daily, pointed out in her speech that the participants of the competition have, with unique perspectives, vivid pictures and sincere emotions, interpreted the charm and glamour of Beijing as an ancient capital with thousands of years of history. These works not only showcase the urban style and cultural heritage of Beijing, but also convey the profound affection of loving and praising Beijing.

Short-video award winners take a group photo. 

"The entries for this competition come from young people of different nationalities. They have shown us the infinite charm of Beijing from their own perspectives, and in their works, I can feel the young creators' love for Beijing," said Cong Fangjun, the Director of the Multi-language International Communication Practical Teaching Center and a new media expert from the School of International Studies at the Communication University of China. "They have not only explored Beijing's historical relics in depth, but also presented the long history and rich culture of the city through their works."

"The creators presented a warm Beijing from different perspectives, showing its inclusiveness as an international metropolis by recording the daily life of foreign friends studying and working in Beijing and the warmth and friendliness they felt in communication with Beijing local residents. This also conveyed the open and diverse cultural atmosphere of this city," Cong said.

Fraser Sampson, who has the Chinese name A Fu, was one of the first prize winners of the short video contest. Born in the UK, he came to China when he was 3 years old and grew up in Beijing's hutong. Hence he calls himself "A Fu the hutong gentleman". Having witnessed the growth and modernization of these hutong and the growth of Beijing as a whole, he is delighted to record the stories of Beijing and its hutong through short videos and is happy that these videos have been well-received by his audience. He said he was honored to have won the first prize, which he will take as encouragement for him to make more video clips telling stories about Beijing and its hutong.

Fraser Sampson delivers an acceptance speech. 

Victor Gouretski, a distinguished researcher in the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who comes from Germany, said the scientific environment of Beijing is highly developed. As one of the thousands of foreign scientists working in Beijing, Gouretski has benefited greatly from the favorable treatment, complete research facilities, and strong policy support here. He believes that Beijing, as a technological innovation center, will definitely achieve more breakthrough scientific research results.

The award ceremony marked the successful conclusion of the fourth "100 Reasons to Fall in Love with Beijing" short video contest. The outstanding works will be broadcast globally to further introduce Beijing to the world and encourage more people to fall in love with Beijing.