It's 9:30 on a Thursday night and Chinese and foreign jazz fans descend on the JZ Club in Shanghai's former French Concession. Glasses clink and the splashing sound of cymbals ripple through a cabaret setting bathed in soft red light. Andrew Field, an American historian, says clubs like JZ represent a return to Shanghai's cosmopolitan past.

The students at the District’s H.D. Cooke Elementary School, in Adams Morgan, are learning Arabic as part of a State Department-sponsored exchange program that places teachers from China and Egypt in classrooms throughout the United States to teach their native languages — languages U.S. officials say will be increasingly important as the country competes in a global economy.

Film is a cultural diplomacy tool, a trade enabler, a global connector an employment creator. It is also a powerful tool for communication. These were some of the points raised by a delegation to the communications ministries by stakeholders of the film industry, led by the Black Star International film festival (BSIFF)

The glittering World Cultural Festival [...] had the country agog for days. The colorful three-day extravaganza, featuring yoga and meditation sessions, peace prayers and cultural performances by Indian and foreign artists, also boasted a VIP audience in attendance: top Indian politicos including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, corporate honchos and guests from across the world.

As crowds gathered on Nov. 4, 1972, to catch a glimpse of two adorably rare creatures making their debut at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo, an orangutan named Miyo unfurled a welcome banner. A curtain was then pulled aside to reveal two anxious giant pandas — Kang Kang and Lan Lan — and Japan fell head over heels in love, both with the bears and what they represented: Sino-Japanese friendship.

All three restaurants have opted to go overseas before expanding beyond their homes bases in India, in an indication of how the Indian restaurant chain is going global, in truly international style, driven by a growing confidence in Indian cuisines, chefs and restaurant brands.

South Korea and Mexico have been working to expand their strategic partnerships across more diverse fields, and consequently, cultural ties have become stronger with the growing popularity of the Korean cultural wave.

The 21st century has redefined power dressing for western women on the world stage, reflecting a seismic shift in our society. Ironically, the culture of “dressing down” has infiltrated the corridors of power in Europe and the US, making the elite more accessible and “of the people”.