China-Inspired Samba Show Thrills Revelers at Brazils Carnival

Thousands of spectators danced and sang along to the music as a China-inspired samba show took center stage during the second and final night of the Carnival celebrations in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo.

The crowd cheered wildly as the citys 2，600-member Unidos de Vila Maria samba school paraded through the Sambadrome – the avenue where competing samba schools perform.

Carnival-goers marveled at the elaborate floats paying tribute to Chinese civilization and cultural icons.

Six other samba schools took part in Saturday nights parade， presenting a multicultural celebration of dance， music， and traditions lasting well into the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Leading the Chinese-themed parade was a theatrical staging of the Monkey King， known as Sun Wukong in Chinese， a central character in the 16th-century novel Journey to the West.

The initial float featured a giant dragon and recreations of the Summer Palace， as samba dancers shimmied to the beat of Brazilian batucada and twirled traditional Chinese fans.

Drummers were dressed as Xian terra cotta warriors in shiny golden costumes that were brought all the way from China.

Modern China was also showcased， with a green float illuminated to evoke the high-rises and smart buildings of Shenzhen.

“Im proud to have a samba school feature China，” said Liao Si， a Chinese teacher living in Brazil who took part in a Carnival parade for the first time.

Thomas Law， president of the Brazil-China Sociocultural Institute （IBrachina）， said， “This makes me very happy and excited. The parade depicted traditional China and modern China. I think everyone enjoyed seeing something so well done and so full of joy.”

Forum Explores Contemporary Chinese Art in Chicago

The U.S.-China Forum 2020 kicked off at the University of Chicago （UChicago） in February with the theme “The Matter of Art.”

“The University of Chicago has a long history of relations with China，” and with the importance of China in the world today， “its imperative to have our faculties and students engage with China，” said President of UChicago Robert Zimmer at the opening of the forum.

When addressing the audience， Chinese Consul General in Chicago Zhao Jian， also a speaker at the forum， said， “Cultural and artistic exchange plays an important role in the exchange of relations between China and the United States.”

The forum sets the stage for the exhibition “The Allure of Matter： Material Art from China，” a largescale exhibition on the materiality of contemporary art from China， which opened on February 7 and was co-presented by the Smart Museum of Art.

More than two dozen Chinese artists including such well-known names as Cai Guoqiang and Xu Bing showcased a total of 48 artworks， some in 3D， at the exhibition.

Orianna Cacchione， co-curator of the exhibition， said that the works presented will inspire people to contemplate “our relationship to the everyday material world” and“the inter-relationship between Chinese art and broader trends in contemporary art globally.”

Japanese Girl Draws Cartoons to Show Support for COVID-19 Fight

A Japanese girl has recently drawn great attention on social media with her Chineselanguage cartoons on preventing COVID-19 infections.

The cartoons featured a giant panda in a nurses hat imparting epidemic prevention knowledge. With her lively painting style， easyto-understand explanations， and best wishes for people in difficult times， the Japanese girl“Xiang Xiang” has gained a large number of fans in China， with many leaving her messages saying things like “Thank you， beautiful Japanese girl” and “The epidemic does not know national boundaries， and we will work together.”

“Please take good care of yourselves and come back safely！” said the Japanese girl， whose real name is Iwasaki Haruka， in a video recorded at her home in Yokohama， Kanagawa prefecture.

She was expressing her best wishes for her former colleagues in the China-Japan Friendship Hospital of Beijing and prayed for the safety of all the medical staff in the front line of fighting COVID-19 in Chinas Wuhan.

In the summer of 2018， she was sent to Beijing by the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and worked as a volunteer nurse in China-Japan Friendship Hospital.

Her Chinese colleagues affectionately referred to her as “Xiang Xiang” because her name has the same Chinese character as the popular panda cub Xiang Xiang born at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. The cartoon “Xiang Xiang Diary” features a panda as the protagonist and recorded the daily work with her colleagues.

Xiang Xiangs volunteer service at the hospital was not supposed to end until July this year， but she was forced to return to Japan on January 29 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. When she learned that her colleagues went to Wuhan in the fifth medical aid team， she hand-painted the logo of the national emergency medical aid team， where the hospital belongs， and used it as her WeChat avatar， also adding “Keep fighting， China-Japan Friendship Hospital” to show support for her former colleagues.