A Jiangsu Province photographer won top prize at the Fourth Humanity Photo Awards competition.

Nanjing's Zhou Wei, a professional photographer in his 30s, was rewarded in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province on Monday for his brilliant shot of a traditional private academy in Hunan Province, central China. It is titled "The Last Heritage of the Old-style Private School."

Co-organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the China Folklore Photographic Association (CFPA), the competition aims to document fading folk-customs around the world.

"Getting to know other cultures and other peoples better is one of the primordial entry points for the promotion of tolerance, mutual understanding and respect for the other," said Hans d'Orville, director of UNESCO's Bureau of Strategic Planning.

As many as 1,869 photographers took part in the biannual competition, which has seen a sharp rise in overseas participants. The number of participating countries has grown from 37 to 71.

The proportion of overseas winners reached 50 percent, from 12 percent when the competition was first held in 1998. All the previous three were held in Beijing.

Shen Che, president of the CFPA and creator of the event, emphasized the importance of the photographers' mission to experience and record cultural diversity, which is threatened by the effects of the universal world economy.

The works are to be exhibited in Guangdong Museum of Art until the end of the year, under the name "Memories of Mankind."

"The Last Heritage of the Old-style Private School" by Zhou Wei

(China Daily November 2, 2004)