Past Forward: Heritage Meets Innovation

Today, we’ll talk about the Potala Palace, a 1,300-year-old architectural and cultural marvel that has served as the spiritual and political heart of Tibetan Buddhism, housing sacred relics, murals, and scriptures that embody the region’s rich heritage and enduring legacy.

On today’s podcast, we’re going to talk about how modern technology and designs, in conjunction with social media, are injecting new energy into the art of traditional Tibetan carpet weaving in order to sustain and promote its cultural legacy.

On today’s podcast, we’ll talk about the ancient art of Tibetan Opera, which had been dwindling but is now reaching new stages of development thanks to greater support from the government as well as audiences. 

On today’s podcast, we’re going to talk about ways in which Lhasa’s historical architecture – from its historic temples to some industrial relics – is being carefully repurposed into modern cultural and artistic spaces that blend heritage with innovation.

Today, we’ll talk about Guan Yu, the legendary general whose unwavering loyalty, courage, and righteousness transformed him from a historical figure into an enduring cultural and spiritual icon deeply revered across China and the world.

Today, we continue our series on Sino-US climate cooperation with the second half of our story covering the importance of subnational cooperation between China and various states in the US as a way to mitigate the relative lack of progress at the national level. 

Continuing our series on combating climate change, today we’ll present the first half of our story on how climate cooperation between China and the US at the subnational level may prove even more important than originally thought amid the persistent turbulence of the national bilateral relationship.

Today, we’ll talk about how a discovery at a humble flea-market led to the remarkable homecoming of a stolen Buddha’s eye and the high-tech quest to reunite Yungang Grottoes’ lost relics with their ancient statues.

Today, we’ll talk about how five monumental Buddha statues modeled after Northern Wei emperors were created to protect Buddhism during times of persecution and ensure the dynasty’s legacy endured well into the future.

Today, we’ll talk about an ancient artifact that served as Marquis Yi of Zeng’s “refrigerator.” Yes, you heard me right. It was a bronze cooling device from the Warring States period, and demonstrates early Chinese cooling technology using ice and clever design to chill food and drinks.