Human Bridges Across Asia

Entering its second decade, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has shifted toward a more people-centered orientation, emphasizing cultural interaction, human connectivity, environmental sustainability, and digital integration. The edited volume examines these dimensions of the BRI through the lens of cross-cultural exchange between China and South Asia. Adopting the theoretical framework of Culturalization, the editors discuss why cultural, social, and human dimensions are essential for understanding the initiative’s long-term impact. Contributors explore a wide range of topics, including community engagement, traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda, culinary exchanges, language and literary translation, gender and diaspora connections, religion and social change, as well as education and academic mobility. The highlighted everyday interactions and lived experiences showcase how South Asian cultures are entering China, and vice versa, through various avenues. The book will appeal to scholars and students interested in China’s Belt and Road Initiative and China-South Asia relations.