How do different civilizations follow different historical courses? What is the turning point that leads various civilizations to different historical routes? Civilizations in different regions are completely different in the context of historical evolution. The differences are not only attributed to the birth of civilization, but also determined by certain important events and nodes in the historical process. It is these that contribute to splendid world civilization with diversity and variety.

The theme of this salon is  "Crossroads of History: The Diversity of World Civilization." Prof. Qian Chengdan, Director of the Institute of Area Studies, Peking University (PKUIAS) delivered the keynote speech The speech broke down the conceptual demarcation between Eastern and Western civilization, focused on the nodes in the context of historical evolution, explored the diversity of world civilization, and tried to find out the inspiration and significance for today by discussing world civilization.