"In China there is an idiom: Tui Bei Huan Zhan, which literally means pushing the cup (on the table) and exchanging the glass," he said. By doing this, friends show intimacy.

"This is rarely seen in China now, while in South Korea the culture is preserved," he said. "This detail is a result of cultural exchange in the past."

Quanzhou is an important seaport on the Maritime Silk Road, through which ancient China conducted trade with other Asian countries.

Mo hoped the promotion of the "Belt and Road Initiative" would help boost cultural exchanges.

"Whether through political or economic dialogues, our final goal should be the prosperity of culture. The success of a country is not how big the GDP figure is, but how rich people' s spiritual life is," he said.

Florence Hui, deputy secretary of home affairs in Hong Kong, shared some experience from the special autonomous region on the preservation of culture.

"In Hong Kong, we have a tradition of fire dragon dancing, which was believed to dispel the evil," she said.

"Hong Kong is a modern city, so we used electronic and social media to promote the activity," she said.

By fusing modern technology with traditions, people can better spread their culture internationally, Zhang Su Hui, president of CS Culture Foundation, said.

"We rejuvenated the traditional opera with modern technology and now bring it to foreign countries," she said. "When the old culture is combined with modern elements, it injects vitality."

The Asia Cultural Forum, from Monday to Tuesday, is one of the events during the 14th Asia Arts Festival and the second Maritime Silk Road International Arts Festival in Quanzhou.