500px has always been dedicated to celebrating exceptional visual storytelling across borders. This year, we’re proud to expand the 500px Global Photography Awards to include 500px China under one unified global award brand, while preserving its unique themes, creative voice, and regional perspective.

Launched on December 30, the 2025 Awards attracted more than 37,000 creators worldwide within just one month, with over 380,000 submissions, a powerful testament to the global photography community’s passion and creativity.

The 500px China regional awards include one Photographer of the Year, four photography categories (Nature, Urban, Creative, Documentary), and a Video Category. Each photography category presents 1 Best of Category and 5 Excellence Awards, while the Video Category presents 3 Excellence Awards.

Below, we present this year’s award-winning works from our photographers in China.

Photographer of the Year

Yuhong Zhao has been named Photographer of the Year for his work On Duty on a Snowy Night.

The image captures Beijing’s first heavy snowfall of 2026 from an overhead perspective, showing a parking attendant standing watch beneath a warm yellow streetlight, carefully guiding cars despite the freezing night. The quiet scene highlights the dedication and professionalism of an ordinary worker on duty.

Nature Category

Best of Category:

Supercell — Dennis Zhang

Photographed in New Mexico in May 2025, the image captures lightning tearing through the sky as a rotating supercell storm forms, revealing the raw power and beauty of nature.

Excellence Awards:

A-Tao · Yongchun Hao · ATIME · Fredgguan · Mingqi Zhang

Urban Category

Best of Category:

Opening Ceremony of the World Games, Chengdu 2025 — Rich Fu

The photograph captures the grand opening ceremony of the 2025 Chengdu World Games beneath the Tianfu Grand Roof. The largest fireworks display in the city’s history lit up the night sky in vibrant rainbow colors, celebrating Chengdu’s message of connection, joy, and welcome to the world. 

Excellence Awards:

Kerwin Chan · Shawn Wu ·Steve Zhang · Feng ·Baggio.Z  

Documentary Category

Best of Category:

Witness the Dazzling Moment in Aerospace — Hongyang Luo

This photograph by Hongyang Luo captures the launch of the Zhongxing-3B satellite aboard a Long March-7A rocket at the Wenchang Space Launch Site.It was his 32nd rocket-launch shoot and the first witnessed together with his six-month-old second child, coinciding with his 10th wedding anniversary, giving the image a deeply personal significance.

Excellence Awards:

Daniel · Wenpeng Lu · Jianfang Chen · Miaoguang He · Xibing Liang

Creative Category

Best of Category:

Fighting — Ben

The photograph features two classic knight miniatures, the Knight Pillar and the Knight in the Lake. Shot from a wide-angle perspective with vegetation in the foreground and a two-tone gradient background, the scene presents the figures in dynamic poses, highlighting the colors, textures, and craftsmanship of the physical models.

Excellence Awards:

Xiao Song · Jack Fang  · JING · Guangchen Chen

Video Category

Excellence Awards:

Link94 · Xi Jiang · Luming Huo

The China Region winners of the 2025 500px Global Photography Awards have been revealed. Congratulations to every award-winning photographer, and heartfelt thanks to all creators who shared their stories with us.

Special thanks to our regional partners for their support.

(In no particular order)

We look forward to discovering more inspiring work in the next edition of the 500px Global Photography Awards.

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