Taking his own path Life is full of the unexpected. Yang had never thought that Taipei 21 would receive Best Picture at the Asia Pacific Film Festival. Yang explains it away, saying that the judges just wanted to spread out the awards. Taipei 21 only won because Korea, Taiwan's archrival, had already won Best Director and Best Leading Actor.
豈料人生路自有轉折，就在無預期心理下，《台北二一》得到亞太影展最佳影片，楊順清自謙地分析，這是分配的結果，因為主要勁敵韓國片已經拿下最佳導演、最佳男主角兩項大獎，才讓《台北二一》有出線機會。