According to Hainan Daily on April 5th, a new phenomenon has emerged from Boao Forum over the last two years. The forum, which used to be a platform for world’s top economic collaboration, has gradually become a think tank for boosting global cultural cooperation.

The reason why such trend appears can be revealed by the representatives attending Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2013.

Many dignities and cultural celebrities present at the forum, such as Master Hsing Yun, President of Buddha's Light International Association, sound engineers in Hollywood and the Oscar winner Richard Anderson etc.

Their attendance will definitely bring a splendid cultural feast on the economic stage.

In the chapter of Indian Economic Outlook at Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2012, participants from both sides agreed that China and India should strengthen cultural ties, which marked the turning point that the forum has become an important platform of promoting economic and cultural integration.

The economic and cultural integration is ubiquitous. Barkor, a downtown in Lhasa, is undoubtedly a model of such integration.
Surrounding Jokhang Temple, Barkor is an ancient street with 1400 years of history. Rambling on it, you will easily find many foreign tourists sightseeing, shopping and enjoying the bright sunshine on the plateau.

Since many merchants from various regions like Beijing and Nepal gather there, the street has already become a business district, where all kinds of elements ranging from antiquity, juvenility, tradition to modernity integrate well.

Barkor not only shows a condensed picture of Tibetan history, but also incarnates the traditional commercial culture in Tibet.

The restoration of the old city in Lhasa carried out late last year involved stall relocation in Barkor, which greatly raised people’s concerns on protection of traditional commercial culture. This fully showed the increasing economic and cultural integration in the process of historical development.

This is Barkor, an example of other places in the world.

For deepening and expanding the economic and cultural integration, Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2013 has set up a clear weather vane for this area.