As a Chinese folk art festival closed in Washington on Sunday, burgeoning cultural exchanges between China and the United States has been deemed a more active and pivotal role in promoting bilateral ties.

Cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) are on the rise, as President Xi Jinping's visit to Seoul this week is sure to provide more impetus.  Korean TV and pop crossovers to China are proving more popular and socially significant than ever.

As President Obama recently announced, the Department of State’s Diplomatic Culinary Partnership, in collaboration with Brand USA, supports the National Travel and Tourism Strategy goal of bringing 100 million international visitors to the United States by 2021. In July, five members of the American Chef Corps will travel to East-Asian markets to promote U.S. tourism and agricultural exports.

Social and cultural exchanges across the Aegean Sea are bridging the gap between Greece and Turkey.  A recent joint project by two photography groups was the latest in a decades-long series of cultural collaborations that experts say are important for providing political leaders with the impetus to resolve differences.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his Greek counterpart, Antonis Samaras, on Saturday witnessed the opening of the new Heraklion Archaeological Museum in Crete, pledging to beef up bilateral cultural exchanges.  Describing civilizations as the crystallization of human wisdom, Li said cultural exchanges serve as an important basis for country-to-country relations.

Sheikia Norris, known lyrically as “Purple Haze”,  was born and raised in the birthplace of Hip Hop itself—the Bronx, New York. Sheikia earned her Bachelor’s degree in Community Health Education from Johnson C. Smith University, and she has worked in health education and arts education for over eight years.  She was part of the Next Level, a crew of American hip-hop artists who performed at the American Center, Kolkata. She speaks to BE’s Abhijit Ganguly.

A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) called on Wednesday fordeepening cooperation with Portugal in cultural and people-to-people exchanges.