On behalf of CFA (China Aquascape Association) and CIPS (China International Pet Show), we are very pleased to officially announce the winners and world ranking of the top 100 of the first CIPS Global Aquatic Plants Aquascaping Championship, or 'The Great Wall Cup' as the global aquascapers would like to call it!
Top 100 of 2017 CIPS Global Aquatic Plants Aquascaping Championship
Our thanks and respect goes out to all participants worldwide. We received an amazing and promising amount of over 1.000 entries for the first edition of our contest!
Judges filled in their scores, total scores have been counted, the final results are out!
A special word for the big winner, Mr. Josh Sim from Malaysia! His aquascaping power has reached heroic levels this year! Congratulations Josh!
A total of 250.000 RMB of prize money will be pided under the winners! RMB 100.000 for the Champion! RMB 50.000 for the runner up! RMB 20.000 for number 3! RMB 5.000 for ranking no. 4 to 10, RMB 3.000 for ranking no. 11 to 20 and RMB 1.500 for ranking no. 21 to 30!
A big award ceremony will be kept at CIPS in Shanghai on Saturday November 18th, 2017. The top 100 photo's will be revealed on this day and the winners will receive their awards. We kindly welcome you all to join us!
On November 16 to 19 during CIPS, eleven teams of 33 aquascapers will compete live on site in Shanghai, including China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Viet Nam, Taiwan, Hong Kong & Macao, Europe, Brazil. Our winner Mr. Josh Sim will represent Malaysia Team during the live contest.
TOP 100 CIAC 2017
001 - Josh Sim (Malaysia)002 - Dama Refiyuda, Indonesia003 - Pan Junfeng, China004 - Wei Su-ni (China)005 - Luong Quoc Hung (Vietnam)006 - Nguyen Van Lam, China007 - Yang Xiwei, Malaysia008 - Yoyo prayogi, Indonesia009 - Kwong King-man (China)010 - Zhang Dadong, China011 - Liu Zhenfei, China012 - Luis Cardoso, Portugal013 - M Aldi Massaid, Indonesia014 - Liu Yanjun, China015 - Yulianto, Indonesia016 - Narto Tan, Indonesia017 - Ganda Kurniawan, Indonesia018 - Sun Xin (China)019 - AGUSSALIM JAMALUDDIN, Indonesia020 - Lee Chi-jui (Taiwan, China)021 - Huang Jun, China022 - M Saidi Arif, Indonesia023 - Wang Dianyou, China024 - NOBPHACHA YIMYOU, Thailand025 - Nuno Matos, Portugal026 - Chen Long, China027 - Zheng Yongzhao (China)028 - Sidney Cordeiro, Brazil029 - Li Zhonglian, China030 - Zhang Zhendong, China031 - Ahyat abdillah, Indonesia032 - Huang Yaoxi (China)033 - Fitri Asriandi Kusuma, Indonesia034 - Cao Xun, China035 - Bachrum, Indonesia036 - Marvin Wisnu, Indonesia037 - Zhang Luhui, China038 - SOMEN BANERJEE, Indonesia039 - Yang Xiaolin, China040 - Qi Liping, China041 - Cui Jian (China)042 - NGUYEN THI LE (Vietnam)043 - Li Han, China044 - Dong Chuanyi, China045 - Cheng Lihong (China)046 - Sun Chunwen, China047 - Liang Jiancong (China)048 - Gao Dongsheng, China049 - Tiago Miravent, Portugal050 - Robertus Hartono, Singapore051 - Guo Wei, China052 - André Franken, Germany053 - Yan Runsheng, China054 - Wang Yingfang, China055 - JOSE ANGEL MADRID (Spain)056 - Huang Zhongliang, China057 - Xing Kongjun, Singapore058 - Feng Hao, China059 - Zhao Xiaochen (China)060 - NOBPHACHA YIMYOU, Thailand061 - Liao Guohong, Taiwan, China062 - Guan Liwei, China063 - Pei Miao, China064 - Meng Hongen, China065 - NOBPHACHA YIMYOU, Thailand066 - Huang Shaoheng, China067 - Song Xiaojiang, China068 - Zhang Qi, China069 - Guo Ye, China070 - China in May071 - Ouyang Zhong, China072 - Achintya Shankar Adhikari India073 - Li Feng China074 - Xu Weishan, China075 - Ana Rodrigues, Portugal076 - Mak Chung-wai China077 - Zou Shangxi, China078 - Fadly Prayetno, Indonesia079 - Li Ming, China080 - Sidney Cordeiro, Brazil081 - Chen Xiaodong, China082 - Sun Yang, China083 - Miao Dongliang, China084 - Matthew Israel O. Manes, Philippines085 - Leung Kai-man (China)086 - Sascha Hoyer, Germany087 - Szabó Krisztián Hungary088 - Chen Qier, China089 - Cao Zheng, China090 - Shi Yanan, China091 - Zhang Weiyan, China092 - Liu Haiyun, China093 - Li Tao, China094 - Sun Chenxi (China)095 - Miladi, Indonesia096 - Muhammad Fatih, Indonesia097 - RESFIN WINANDA, Indonesia098 - Zhou Weicheng, China099 - WONG KAI LON, Macau, China100 - Siti Hilmah, Indonesia
The four Indonesian works published at ranks 1–300 offer a compact comparison. A coloured surface canopy, a dominant trunk, a dense grove and a wood-and-rock opening all reward close attention. The small group makes it possible to examine every represented work in this range, while keeping the conclusions specific to this season and cutoff.
A bright gap between broad wood layers, a fine-leaved canopy and a conspicuous individual fish offer three different entrances to this Malaysian selection. The photographs invite attention to the space inhabited by fish as well as the hardscape around it. They also show why a creator’s reputation and a new aquarium’s visual decisions should be discussed separately.
Enchanted Hills offers an immediately recognisable rock valley, with coloured planting and fish in bright water. Three other selected Brazilian photographs build their scenes around substantial wood. Seeing them together is a useful way to revisit a familiar label without asking individual creators to fit a single national recipe.
A pale path through hanging roots and a bright interval between exposed rocks can both make an aquarium feel spacious. Japan’s 2026 selection is rewarding because it places these different approaches beside richly planted foregrounds and coloured slopes. Six photographs offer a practical way to discuss variety within a familiar Nature Aquarium heritage.
The Grand Prize photograph gives this study an obvious first stop, but the comparison becomes richer when it reaches beyond the winner. Six selected aquariums show different ways of framing light with wood: unequal trunks, fine leaf curtains, successive arches and repeated vertical roots. Their interest lies in how each arrangement keeps a densely constructed scene readable.
Vietnam’s two leading 2026 awards both invite us into wooded environments. That is an interesting starting point for revisiting an archive which once associated the country strongly with stone. The most useful reading is not that one material has defeated the other. Six selected photographs show several ways of organising planted ground, open water and the route into a scene.
The CIAC 2026 Aquascaping Category results have received an official update. A results sheet distributed by the organising committee on 14 October lists ranks 14–119, extending the ranking information available beyond the image cards previously covered by AquaLibs.
The CIAC 2026 story continues beyond the Top 30. This AquaLibs report brings together the contest image cards labelled 31–70, introducing more creators and forty positions to explore.
Ten aquariums can draw us underwater in ten different ways. A luminous forest opening, a red surface canopy or an exposed rock valley changes where we look—and what we discover next.
Chuanwei Yu’s 万物自然, the IAPLC 2026 Grand Prize aquascape, is immediately recognisable as a woodland scene. Its lasting interest lies in how that scene holds together. Large trunks establish the setting, finer roots connect its layers, planting softens the structure and fish make the spaces between the wood feel inhabited.
The CIAC 2026 podium offers three remarkably different ways to make an aquarium feel larger than its glass boundaries. Trần Anh Đức’s “Tectonic Memory” builds its world through folded rock contours. Acho Choky’s “Under The Cave” places the viewer beneath a dark canopy. Zhao Gang’s “幽邃” draws us through a planted valley animated by blue fish.
Vietnam’s Trần Anh Đức has won the CIAC 2026 Aquascaping Group with “Tectonic Memory,” leading the newly published Top 30. Indonesia’s Acho Choky takes second place with “Under The Cave,” while China’s Zhao Gang (赵刚) finishes third with “幽邃.”
Vietnam has plenty to celebrate at IAPLC 2026. Ha Le Trinh wins the Gold Prize at world rank 2, while Minh Toan Nguyen earns a Bronze Prize at rank 6. Together, they give Vietnamese aquascaping two places among the contest’s seven leading awards—and two striking aquariums for the international community to discover.
Chuanwei Yu of China has won the IAPLC 2026 Grand Prize, leading a season that also brings a proud moment for Vietnam: Ha Le Trinh takes second place and Minh Toan Nguyen finishes sixth.
Two competitions. One date. A new collection of aquascapes for the world to discover. IAPLC and CIAC have both scheduled their 2026 results announcements for Saturday, October 10. This AquaLibs guide brings together the confirmed schedule, official channels, archive galleries and reading to help you follow the day.
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