By Zhang Ningfang

Peking University, Beijing, November 11, 2008: On the night of Nov. 8th, The Night of Beijing Forum -- Fourth BESETOHA Choral Festival was held in the Centennial Hall. Choirs of Peking University, The University of Tokyo, Seoul National University and Vietnam National University performed at the festival. Scholars of the Beijing Forum and students of PKU attended the festival.

PKU Student Choir sang three songs, which are El Viejo Puerto, Zhai Cai Diao(Sichuan folk song), and Deconstructing Johann. The University of Tokyo Choir Akademie sang Hokke-Senpo, which is a unique song usually played in religious rituals. Seoul National University Choir brought the audience Gloria, which is a traditional English song. Then choirs of the four universities together sang Carmina Burana, which absorbed the audience. The performance was highly appreciated by the audience. During the festival, students of PKU Chorus attended the BESETOHA Conference and discussed the prospect of East Asia.

The Night of Beijing Forum, since its initiation, has become a cultural brand and highlight of Beijing Forum, which is conducive to promoting the idea of "harmony and common prosperity of civilizations" from the cultural perspective. BESETOHA Intervarsity Choral Festival is held by four famous universities in East Asia, Peking University (in Beijing), Seoul National University, the University of Tokyo as well as Vietnam National University (in Hanoi). The name BESETOHA derived from combining each first two letters of the names of the cities where those four universities locate. The festival is held every two years, and the arrangement is undertaken by turns of those four universities. The first BESETOHA Festival was held in Seoul, Korea, October 2002, and the second in Tokyo, Japan, October 2004, the third in Hanoi.