The annual Touching Shanxi Awards ceremony was held in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province, on Feb 26, Shanxi Daily reported.

The awards honor ten of Shanxi's most inspiring role models in 2016, selected through a public online vote. This year's ceremony marked the seventh time the awards have been held.

The winners included several household names, such as Jinghai Peng, the first Chinese astronaut to have flown on three missions, and Hao Jiaolu, a fencer from Shanxi who won the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Winners of the Touching Shanxi Awards 2016 receive their awards at the ceremony in Taiyuan on Feb 26. The awards honor the province's most inspiring role models. [Photo/ sxrb.com]

Several previously unsung local heroes were also recognized, like Guo Xiaoping, who has dedicated more than a decade of his life to helping children with HIV.

Formerly director of Linfen Third People's Hospital in Shanxi, Guo opened a "love classroom" in 2004 for children who were denied access to schools because they were HIV positive.

Two years later, he established the Linfen Red Ribbon School with the help of local residents, the first school of its kind in China that is dedicated to the education of children with HIV. The school was subsequently incorporated in the national education system in 2011.

Guo Xiaoping (R)?shows pictures to a student at Red Ribbon School in Linfen, Shanxi province, May 30, 2016. Guo set up the school to help children in Shanxi who had been denied access to education because they were HIV positive. [Photo/Xinhua]