Sun Yat-sen University’s Centre for the History of Guangzhou (Canton) Port Studies will convene its Material and Textual Studies in a Cross-Cultural Context : A Chinese Perspective and Beyond Conference on its South Campus in Guangzhou (Guangdong Province, China) on December 5-7, 2014, in order to advance associated theories and methodologies as well as to consider the practices of cross-cultural studies through surveys on material and textual sources. The conference aims at fostering conversations between scholars by concentrating on material heritage and textual traditions to promote a cross-cultural perspective. Cross-cultural intercourses have long been studied broadly in various academic fields, such as history, archaeology, anthropology, sociology, economics, political science, psychology. For multi-disciplinary researches, in-depth dialogues are of great values. Both material heritage and textual sources (including oral text) are crucial to cross-cultural studies. To interpret certain historical evidences, dialogues between scholars of material cultures and scholar of textual studies are necessary. However, without common understanding of the associated theories and methodologies, certain dialogues might stray from key points. Nevertheless, setting off on the discussion of cross-cultural studies is the starting point for a common understanding. Sun Yat-sen University, located in Guangzhou, one of China’s most world-wide oriented port cities , is an ideal place for an exchange of ideas and points of views. The conference will take place in a small scale atmosphere to enable a round-table forum for topics might be of interest to participants. We welcome papers from scholars working on cross-cultural studies, with an emphasis on material cultures and textual interpretations.