The 2021 Lishui Photography Festival – to be held on Nov 5-9 in the city of Lishui in East China's Zhejiang province – is expected to offer visitors a wide-ranging cornucopia of creativity from around the planet.

The festival officially launched its invitation on Aug 17 to photographers internationally to submit works to be considered for the exhibition – and the response was said to be highly gratifying.

As of Aug 27, photographers from 120 countries had submitted works for the Global Environmental Protection Photography Contest, which will be held for the first time during the festival.

With the total numbers exceeding previous editions, this year's festival has become the one with the most participating countries.

Some of the big names in the field of photography reportedly come from the United States, Japan, Germany and South Africa, among other countries, will come to Lishui to participate in the 4th International Photography Symposium.

In the face of the global COVID-19 outbreak, the festival will be held simultaneously online and on-site in Lishui, according to the organizers.