Guided by the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of the Ministry of Education, hosted by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE), and organized by Global Times Online, the 2026 “My Beautiful Encounter with China” Essay and Short Video Competition has officially kicked off.

This year marks the 10th edition of the competition. Over the past nine editions, young creators from around the world have used articles and videos to document the moments that have shaped their experiences of studying, living, traveling, and working in China. Their authentic stories have crossed mountains and seas, becoming warm bonds connecting the world.

Under the theme of “My Beautiful Encounter with China,” the competition invites international participants from around the world who have studied, lived, traveled, worked, or participated in cultural exchanges in China, as well as young people from other countries who are interested in the Chinese language and culture, to share their unique stories about China through essays or short videos and tell the world about their own “Beautiful Encounter with China.”

01 Participants

International participants from around the world who have studied, lived, traveled, worked, or participated in cultural exchanges in China, as well as young people from other countries with an interest in the Chinese language and culture.

02 Event Schedule

Submission Deadline: 12:00 p.m., November 8, 2026 (Beijing Time)

Online Voting: Late November 2026

Expert Review: Late November to mid-December 2026

Awards Announcement: Before February 2027

03 Entry Requirements

Participants may submit entries in one or both categories—essay and short video.

(1) Essay Requirements

There are no genre restrictions. Essays must be written in Chinese and should be approximately 1,000 Chinese characters in length, with the following format recommendations: SimSun (Song Font), small size 4, with the first line of each paragraph indented by two Chinese characters.

There is no requirement to use "My Beautiful Encounter with China" as the article title. The main text must not contain private information such as student ID number, class, major, or passport number.

(2) Short Video Requirements

Duration: No longer than 6 minutes

Horizontal shooting is recommended. Use a 16:9 aspect ratio with a resolution of no less than 1280 × 720. The image should be clear and in focus, without corner marks, watermarks or logos.

Encoding format: MP4/MOV

Language: No restrictions; Bilingual subtitles (Chinese and English) are recommended, and any Chinese characters used should be standardized and accurate.

Outstanding works will be showcased on the official accounts after the competition.

(3) Copyright and Intellectual Property

Entries submitted in previous editions of the competition are not eligible. Please do not resubmit.

All submissions must align with the competition theme and convey positive social values. Entries must not contain controversial content involving pornography, violence, or discrimination based on religion, race, or regional discrimination.

Contestants must ensure that they hold complete, independent, and undisputed copyright over their works. Submitted works must be original creations of the submitter. Plagiarism or misappropriation is strictly prohibited. If a work involves an individual’s portrait, privacy, or another person’s reputation, the contestant must ensure that written authorization and consent have been obtained from the relevant rights holder.

Contestants must ensure that lawful authorization has been obtained from the rights holders for materials used in the works, such as background music, fonts, images, and film or television clips. Contestants shall bear all legal liabilities and losses arising from legal disputes related to copyright, portrait rights, reputation rights, and other such matters concerning their works. If such disputes cause losses or reputation damage to the organizers, the organizers reserve the right to seek compensation.

By submitting a work, the author is deemed to have agreed to grant the organizers, free of charge, the right to display, disseminate, and use the work for non-profit purposes on the official website and related public channels (including but not limited to exhibitions, promotional activities, publications, and the production of derivative products), without additional remuneration.

In accordance with relevant national laws and regulations, AI technology used in the creation of video entries must comply with applicable intellectual property laws and regulations. Participants shall abide by the user agreements of AI tool providers and comply with their terms and requirements governing the use of AI-generated content.

Participants acknowledge that the use of AI tools for creation carries legal risks of infringing upon the legitimate rights of others. Before submission, participants shall independently ensure that their AI-generated works do not infringe upon any third-party rights including portrait rights, copyrights, patents, trademarks and other lawful rights and interests. Otherwise, participants shall bear all associated liabilities and risks.

Participants are required to sign the Copyright Confirmation and Authorization Agreement and strictly fulfill the corresponding legal obligations as stipulated therein.

The Organizing Committee reserves the rights of final interpretation of the competition rules and related matters.

04 Awards

The essay track and the short video track of this competition will each have 4 First Prizes, 8 Second Prizes, 18 Third Prizes, and 30 Merit Awards. All winners will receive a certificate for the 2026 “My Beautiful Encounter with China” competition, as well as corresponding awards.

In addition, the competition will also present 20 “Star of Popularity” awards, determined by public voting; 20 “Star of Communication” awards, based on communication metrics. Excellent Organization Awards will be given to organizations with outstanding performance in participant recruitment. (See the Work Evaluation below for details.)

05 Submission Methods

Contestants may submit their entries through any of the following methods:

(1) Email Submission

①Submissions by Institutions:

Institutional coordinators should place the essay or video work, Entry Information Form (Attachment 1), and Copyright Confirmation and Authorization Agreement (Attachment 2) in one folder. Name the folder: Institution Name + Number of Essay Works + Number of Video Works.

Send to: essay@studyinchina.edu.cn

②Individual Submission:

Please place the essay or video work, Entry Information Form (Attachment 1), and Copyright Confirmation and Authorization Agreement (Attachment 2) in one folder. Name the folder as: Chinese Name + Number of Essay Works + Number of Video Works.

Send to: essay@studyinchina.edu.cn

(2) Social Media Submission

Participants are encouraged to post works on social media platforms with the official competition hashtags:

Chinese platforms: Upload to Douyin, WeChat Channels, or Rednote with the hashtag #我与中国的美丽邂逅

Global platforms: Upload to Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, or X with the hashtag #MyBeautifulEncounterwithChina, and tag the official account:

Facebook: @Study in China

X: @YourChinaStudy

Instagram: @studyinchina_cscse

TikTok: @studyinchina_cscse

Notes:

If you are submitting multiple entries, please list all entries in one Entry Information Form (Attachment 1). A separate Copyright Confirmation and Authorization Agreement (Attachment 2) should be signed for each entry. Please package the essay or video together with Attachments 1 and 2 and send them together.

It is recommended that the essay or video file be named in the following format: Chinese Name + Nationality + Institution (if any) + Title of Work. The title of the essay or video work shall be the one filled out in Attachment 1, the "Entry Information Form". Entrants are not required to adopt "My Beautiful Encounter with China" as the work title.

All participants submitting via social media are deemed to have agreed to all terms in the Attachment 2: Copyright Confirmation and Authorization Agreement and must sign it according to host instructions.

Attachments can be downloaded from:

Baidu Netdisk:https://pan.baidu.com/s/19GDuacNasRIVHCrZ9OfMtA?pwd=ie1r

Google Drive:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aaKEosmvXx2uG2x1x6fEamuux3-3pkDF?usp=sharing

For inquiries, please contact email: essay@studyinchina.edu.cn

06 Work Evaluation

(1) Evaluation Process

The evaluation process consists of organizing committee screening, public voting and expert judging.

(2) Evaluation Criteria

The final winners will be primarily determined based on expert review scores, while also considering the work’s media performance and relevance to the award category.

The Outstanding Organization Award will be determined based on the quantity and quality of entries submitted by the institution.

A total of 20 Star of Popularity Awards will be conferred. Winners will be selected from the top ten entries respectively in the essay group and video group by the number of votes received in public voting.

A total of 20 Star of Communication Awards will be conferred. Participants must submit account names, publication links, and screenshots of background data from the platforms to the official email address for verification and evaluation by the organizing committee.

Certificates and other awards will be issued to winners and institutions to recognize their achievements.

For further details, please contact:

Email: essay@studyinchina.edu.cn

Tel: +86 13051719664

      +86 19251061968

      +86 010-62677592

Source：Study in China