As a prelude to the conference, Professor Lai Chi Tim (Associate Director (Executive) of the Institute of Chinese Studies, CUHK, Director of the Centre for Studies of Daoist Culture) delivered a welcome message, which was followed by seven discussion panels and a roundtable discussion session. 21 scholars from different academic fields around the globe presented their studies on Lingnan culture and took part in the discussion panels to exchange their findings and views on a variety of topics surrounding the following themes: 1. Lingnan literati and their mentality about world cultures: Shifts in knowledge structure; 2. Lingnan styles and the influences from world cultures: Changes in aesthetics landscape; 3. Experience of foreign material culture in Lingnan lifestyle; 4. Emergence of new patterns in Lingnan urban culture; 5. Lingnan in the context of the wider Cantonese regions: Links to Hong Kong, Macau and Nanyang areas; and 6. Paradigms in Lingnan studies: Achievements and limitations.

The conference was ran in a mixed mode, where participants could deliver their presentations in-person at the CUHK Conference Hall or have a live video presentation via Zoom. The live-streaming conference attracted about 300 registrations and over 70 attendees at each panel. The conference aimed to bring together scholars from different academic disciplines around the world to explore, promote and develop issues and research in the field of Lingnan culture. Hopefully, through this conference, a research network in Lingnan culture can be built up to facilitate research exchanges and collaborations in the future.

To view the recordings of the conference, please visit the ICS Facebook: