Research by Dr Pan coalesce around the topic of cultural and cross-cultural analysis of various textual forms including specialism in topics concerning film, visual culture and art, urban culture, cities, modernity theories and cultural memory in modern and contemporary Greater China and East Asia. Research undertaken at the Department of Chinese Culture by Dr Pan Lu into urban culture and cultural memories has led to several art and film projects such as “Ode to Infrastructure,” “Many Undulating Things,” “Traces of An Invisible City” and “Miasma, Plants, Export Paintings,” which gave rise to screenings, media interviews, exhibitions, invited presentations in Hong Kong, Mainland China, South Korea, the US, the UK, Japan, Germany, Switzerland and Taiwan. Together, these activities produced an impact on bridging the academia and the international art world. They attracted an estimated total viewers and participants of over 9000, allowing transfer of research findings and knowledge from the Department to various audiences in Hong Kong, the UK, Japan and other parts of the world, thereby enriching their understanding of such matters as urban history and culture, memory, and film culture.

Dr Pan has been focusing on issues of memory and space, visual politics in public space and Hong Kong’s history of urban space.Hong Kong, with its rich history of colonialism, large flows of migration, effects of war, political changes, globalization and rapid changing urban form, represents a unique case in global urban history. Her studies on Hong Kong and its historical transformations may shed light on issues of spatial justice, population flow, class conflicts, identity politics, the environment and visual representations of cities in various places. Dr Pan has also focused on materials in visual archives (particularly those of export paintings) and their relationship with spatial configuration.

The films co-directed by Dr Pan were widely selected in film festivals and art exhibitions around the world and received many positive reviews. The film “Miasma, Plants, Export Paintings” won the Award for Excellence at 32nd Image Forum Festival, Japan, which praises the film “for contributing to the cinematic culture of today by its outstanding innovativeness and originality”.