Founded upon our multicultural Hong Kong demographic and staff of regional studies specialists, we aim to further develop as a leader of scholarly and creative research in East-West, Asian, and Chinese musical contact, and to expand our base of eight cross-cultural researchers with new interdisciplinary positions combining other area interests. The recent hires bring a new bridge from East and Central Asia to Eastern Europe. We seek to develop research on this region as part of the Chinese “Belt and Road” initiative being embraced by Hong Kong institutions. Building upon our successful Belt and Road Lecture and Concert Series of the Silk Road with pipa virtuoso Wu Man (2017), we will utilize external funding schemes to plan text- and practice-based collaborations, conferences, and creative projects along this thematic area.