中国·福州——热爱城市从热爱美食开始

Capturing Fuzhou’s Light, Shadow, and Cuisine in Changing Seasons

The 2025 “Tongli Cup” Fuzhou Festival Customs and Culinary Photography Competition Officially Kicks Off

The “Blessings Throughout Four Seasons · Long-standing Flavor of Fujian” 2025 “Tongli Cup” Fuzhou Festival Customs and Culinary Photography Competition commenced at Nanhou Street in Sanfang Qixiang on the afternoon of May 21. Guided by the Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce and the Fuzhou Federation of Social Sciences Circles, and hosted by the Fuzhou Catering and Culinary Industry Association and the Fuzhou Photographic Research Association, the yearlong competition is open to the public for submissions.

The competition aims to capture Fuzhou’s traditional festival customs and cuisine through the lens, paying tribute to the millennia-old wisdom of “following nature’s timing and making the best use of resources”. The 24 solar terms embody ancient Chinese wisdom of time, and Fuzhou stands as one of its most vivid practitioners. From biting into spring rolls on the Start of Spring, to enjoying longans during White Dew, to rolling rice balls on the Winter Solstice, these life philosophies of “eating by time”, which embrace the gifts of nature to nourish both body and soul, reflect not only the survival wisdom of Fuzhou residents who “live by the mountains and sea” but also serve as living specimens of intangible cultural heritage.

Submissions fall into three categories: “Grace of the Solar Terms” Solar Terms and Customs Category, “Flavors of Fujian Through Time” Dietary Customs Category, and “Solar Terms in Light and Shadow” Short Video Category. The “Grace of the Solar Terms” Solar Terms and Customs Category focuses on the natural landscapes, climatic characteristics, folk custom culture, and people’s living scenes in alignment with the solar terms. The “Flavors of Fujian Through Time” Dietary Customs Category highlights the culinary culture of “eating by time” of Fuzhou, emphasizing the connection between solar terms, ingredients, and cooking. The “Solar Terms in Light and Shadow” Short Video Category invites participants to unleash their creativity by presenting Fuzhou’s 24 solar terms, festival custom culture, and dietary customs in fresher and more diverse formats.

The competition will also feature a series of supporting activities, including the folk cuisine and culture lecture hall, as well as the “Fujian Flavor in Hometown Dialect・Solar Terms in Local Voices” short video series on solar terms and folk customs in Fuzhou dialect running over the course of the year. The submission period is open from now until May 31, 2026. The competition aims to showcase, on a large scale and from multiple dimensions, the seasonal foods and relevant folk customs of the City of Blessings throughout the year. (Reporter: Zhang Xuyang/Text; Correspondent: Li Qin/Photo)