Edinburgh’s City Chambers has played host to this year’s Asian Art Awards, showcasing a range of performances including some Chinese performing arts.

Presented by the Asian Art Fund Scotland and the Fringe’s Artist Services in partnership with WU Asia Pacific, the event highlighted the vibrant cultural bridges being built between Scotland and Asia. Hundreds of artists from dozens of Fringe shows gathered at the event, representing Japan, Palestine, China, India, South Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, USA, UK and Scotland.

The awards were presented by Richard Lewis, chair of the Asian Art Fund Scotland and Chris Snow, head of artist services at the Fringe, in partnership with WU Asia Pacific.

Taking home the Asian Arts Special Award was The Lady Prince Consort by the Anqing Zaifen Huangmei Opera Theatre. This classic Chinese opera captivated audiences with its Mulan-esque tale of a young wife who disguises herself as a man to save her husband. Performed in Mandarin with English subtitles, the production was praised for being both visually stunning and unexpectedly hilarious, making a powerful impact despite only showing for one night at the Queen’s Hall.

The Guangdong Chao Opera Institute’s production of The Princess Gives Her Lover a Sword was shortlisted in the same category.

Chinese artists also secured multiple Highly Commended accolades across various categories. In the Outstanding Dance Show category, the Shanghai International Dance Center Theater and Yuerge Dance Theatre were recognised for their captivating Strange Tales from Liaozhai. Comedian Olivia Xing earned a nod in the Outstanding Musical or Comedy Show category for Baby of Colour, whilst Hong Kong’s Emma Tsoi was highly commended for her individual performance in He Wants Kids, She Doesn’t.

For the full results see below or visit https://asianartfundscotland.org/.

Winners and full results – 2026 Asian Art Awards

Outstanding Show

Winner: 2ShoulderPads: Galaxy Train, 2ShoulderPads. (Japan)

Highly Commended:

• The Palestinian Circus: Step and a Half, Underbelly and The Palestinian Circus with Medical Aid for Palestine (Palestine)
• YOAH, Underbelly, Cirquework and Cluster Arts (Japan)

Outstanding Musical or Comedy Show

Winner: Japanese Grandma Funeral, Kento Morita. (USA)

Highly Commended:

• Hater, Brava Guava, UK
• Olivia Xing: Baby of Colour., Olivia Xing. (China)

Outstanding Dance Show

Winner: Samurai and Oiran, Asakusa Kaguwa (Japan)

Highly Commended:

• Strange Tales from Liaozhai, Yuerge Dance Theatre / Shanghai International Dance Center Theater. (China)
• July 15th to…, Producer: Stephanie Chu, Playwright: Juno Chen, Cast: Peiyi Zhong (UK)

Outstanding Drama

Winner: Tether, Wonder Fools and Theatre SAN (Scotland/Republic of Korea)

Highly Commended:

• LANDSFRAU, Doris Crea Collective (Performed by Mariann Yar) (Germany)
• Olympic Hopefuls, in vivo Productions (USA)
• Why English?, Vibhinna Ramdev (India)

Outstanding Youth Show

Winner: Our Town Needs a Nando’s, Hot Mess Productions (Scotland)

Highly Commended:

• Kahi, The Inner Us – Explore the Soul, Nikkan Dance Academy, (India/Scotland)

Outstanding Children’s Show

Winner: Shhh! (A Wordless Comedy), Lang Spot Vietnam (Vietnam)

Outstanding Individual Performance

Winner: Cheeyang Ng, Legendary (Singapore)

Highly Commended:

• Seonju Jang, The Renaissance of Spring: Samsara and Shroop Directed and Choreographed by Yu-mi Kim. Jajack Movement and the Art Support & Incubation Dept., GGCF (Republic of Korea)
• Emma Tsoi, He Wants Kids, She Doesn’t, BF Productions. (Hong Kong)
• Aarushi Agni, EMOJI: The Hieroglyphs Of Our Time…. (USA)

Asian Arts Special Award

Winner: The Lady Prince Consort, Anqing Zaifen Huangmei Opera Theatre (China)

Highly Commended:

• R/evolution(s), Dance Base Yokohama/Conan Amok (Japan)

Also shortlisted was The Princess Gives Her Lover a Sword by Guangdong Chao Opera Institute (China)