Experts mull over Silk Road revival

After falling in silence for several decades, Dunhuang, an important Silk Road destination inGansu Province, has recently regained global attention thanks to China's resolution in reviving the Silk Road, an ancient caravan route connecting the country with central and western Asia.

Experts from around the world believe that the culture in the west of China, represented by the morals and religious scriptures found in the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang as well as the unique traditions of the minorities, coincides with a valuable opportunity for development.

They gave their speeches during the round table meeting of the Second International Culture Industry Summit held on September 8, 2013, in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province.

"China has been the world's manufacturing center for the past two decades, it's time to move on," said Chuen-Juei He, professor at the Central University of Taiwan.

"Ancient countries may have an edge in integrating and recreating the past and recreating art with life," she said.

According to He, tradition must be joined with contemporary lifestyle in order to generate the uniqueness of a culture represented by the originality and refinement of true craftsmanship.

She also argued that when tourism is considered part of a business to revive local culture, people should not take it as mere sightseeing.

"It is not just on-site tourism, but also culture which engenders ideas in the global market."

Her ideas were explored by Hamish Clifton, senior manager of Deloitte Consulting and supervisor of Ogden Corporation Europe.

"What is a cultural tourist?" Clifton questioned, "Cultural tourism in itself is a journey… A potential to explore who we are as individuals."

Jan Sandal, a Norwegian professor at the Jan-Urban Sandal Institute, suggested that innovation and entrepreneurship should be injected into the Silk Road's revival.

"What did [Silk Road] give us [for the past 2,000 years] and what's it going to be over the next 2,000 years?" he questioned. He later gave his answer by expanding on several "initiatives," including opening up the market, enhancing education, building harmonious communication between religions and establishing an individual base of cooperation.

At the same time, Pearl Yao, strategic partner development manager with Google, demonstrated Google's art project which is designed to bring museum collections online. Her demonstration was in line with what the Gansu government has been trying to establish -- adopting cloud computing technology to put the cultural relics of the Mogao Grottoes online so people can view the murals without actually visiting the site.

The Second International Culture Industry Summit was co-hosted by the Asia Pacific CEO Association and Gansu Government.