Thousands of American parents and kids take part in the Chinese New Year Family Day organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, US, January 28, 2017. [Photo provided by Cultural Section of the Chinese Embassy in the United States]

The Sharing China - Happy Chinese New Year Contest 2018 is calling for entries from all over the world! In addition to photographs, the organizers have included short films in the 2018 competition.

Regardless of whether you are a professional or an amateur, who you are or where you are from, you are welcome to send us short films and/or photos of memorable moments from Chinese New Year celebrations.

Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, is the most important traditional festival of the Chinese people, with a history of more than 4,000 years. Grand celebrations take place all over the world during the festive days, with traditions passed down over centuries: from family reunions to New Year fireworks, temple fairs and performances to dumplings and local delicacy feasts.

Awards and Prizes

The contest will select 9 short films.
★ First prize: One video, RMB 20,000 prize
★ Second prize: Three videos, RMB 10,000 prize for each
★ Third prize: Five videos, RMB 5,000 prize for each

The contest will also select 100 photos (single or group).
★ First prize: 10 photos (single or group), RMB 3,000 prize for each
★ Second prize: 30 photos (single or group), RMB 2,000 prize for each
★ Third prize: 60 photos (single or group), RMB 1,000 prize for each

Winners will be awarded prize money and digital certificates of honor. The organizers will deduct any tax on the award money and pay the authorities on behalf of the winners.

When

Starting January 1, 2018

Submission deadline: March 15, 2018

Who can submit

Anyone who takes part in Happy Chinese New Year activities or celebrates Chinese New Year outside of the Chinese mainland is welcome to submit photos of wonderful moments of the celebration. Anyone who is interested in Chinese culture and wants to share short videos about the Chinese New Year. Chinese and foreign film studios, communities and individuals are all welcome.

The rules

Short film

1. Theme: All videos should have the theme of Chinese New Year celebrations, reflecting the images and impressions of Chinese New Year in the eyes of people around the world and capturing the charm of traditional Chinese festivals and culture.

2. Film length: three to five minutes is recommended, no more than 30 minutes. The entries can be in any form, such as short DV videos, micro films, Flash and animations. All videos should be of high quality, with necessary subtitles. Post-processing is encouraged. If the video is dubbed, the language could be either Mandarin or English, but subtitles should be bilingual.

3. Formats: MPG, MPEG, AVI, MP4, 3GP, RM, RMVB, MOV, FLV, ASF; resolution no less than 1920 × 1080 pixels.

4. Please send a download link of the entry, download password (if have) and the application form to sharingcn@126.com. (Download application form: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/pdf/2017/2018lexiang_video.docx)

Photos

1. All photos about Chinese New Year celebrations are welcome. The images should show the programs and activities of Happy Chinese New Year (a worldwide celebration hosted by the Ministry of Culture of the PRC and other Chinese authorities) or capture scenes of people enjoying the Spring Festival overseas.

2. Entries can be single photos or a series - a group counts as a single photo. Each group should only have four to eight photos. All the images must be real, not doctored or Photoshopped. The tone and color of the image could be slightly adjusted, and the color can be changed into black and white or monochromatic. Composition and clipping are allowed.

3. Photographs must be in TIF or JPG format. And resolution of the photo should be 300 dpi. TIF file should be no smaller than 50MB, the highest compressed format of JPG file no less than 7MB, and the maximum should be no less than 3,000 pixels. If submitting to Facebook, photos could be compressed, but please keep the original file. If the photo is shortlisted and published on the page, the original file will be required.

4. Please submit the application form with your entries to contest@chinadaily.com.cn. (Download application form: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/pdf/2017/2018lexiang_photo.docx)

Hosts and Organizers

With the Support of Bureau for External Cultural Relations, Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China

Hosts: Chinaculture.org, Communication University of China

Organizers: Chinadaily.com.cn, School of International Studies of the Communication University of China

Co-organizers: Documentary China Council, China Photographers Association

Interact with us on Facebook

You can submit your entries to China Culture's Facebook, watch others’ works and have interaction with us.

Sharing China contest on China Culture’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/120719905392410/

Scan the QR code below to follow China Culture's Facebook page, and always remain updated with the latest Chinese culture news, events and information.

The final word

1. The entries should not contain any pornography, violence or reactionary elements and should obey the laws and regulations of the People's Republic of China.

2. The author owns the copyright and enjoy the right of authorship of the entries. Once the entries are published on the website of contest, or the author is informed they are a finalist, it means that the author has agreed that the Bureau for External Cultural Relations of the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China has the right to use their works in other cultural activities or cultural products, such as exhibition, screening, publication, poster and photo album design. The sponsor also has the right to recommend the works to related media and will not pay the author for use.

3. All participants should guarantee their ownership of copyright for the entries, or that they have the right to authorize the entries' use in competitions, promotions and screenings. The author(s) should promise that all legal responsibilities and economic losses shall be borne by himself (themselves), including but not limited to results of the products' infringement of intellectual property, portrait rights and reputation rights, defamation and other violations of laws and regulations.

4. All applicants should ensure the authenticity and accuracy of the filed content in the application form. The organizing committee will not be responsible for any errors or misunderstanding caused by incorrect, incomplete or inauthentic filing.

5. All submitted entries will not be returned. Please create backups beforehand.

6. Once the winning entries are announced, the organizing committee will contact winners for their personal information and bank information to send remuneration; if the participant refuses to provide personal and bank information, or don’t provide asked information within the stipulated time, the winner will be disqualified.

7. Entries that don't meet the requirements above will be disqualified.

8. By submitting entry to take part in the contest, the participant agrees to accept these rules.

9. The hosts have the right of final interpretation of the rules.

The Sydney Opera House in Australia turns red to celebrate the Chinese New Year, February 2017. [Photo by Zeng Hanchao/Chinaculture.org]