Lula receives a “moon sample” and Xi Jinping gives a bottle of “flying rivers” water

A piece of land from the Moon and water captured directly from the clouds of the Amazon are among the official gifts exchanged between the presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and China, Xi Jinping, during the meeting held in Brasilia.

The list and images of the objects were made public this Thursday 21 by the federal government. In addition to unusual gifts, they also exchanged works of art, as is usually more common on these occasions. Gifts, in general, reflect works of national culture and are made by artists of the countries.

The exchange of gifts took place a few minutes before the banquet offered by Lula and First Lady Rosangela da Silva, known as Janja, on the evening of Wednesday 20, at the Itamaraty Palace.

They ate dishes prepared with typical ingredients of the country, such as grilled pirarucu, banana moquequinha, dried meat ravioli, xinxim chicken, popcorn farofa and, for dessert, coconut ice cream, with Cerrado cashews and Brazil nuts. Dinner included a selection of wines from Rio Grande do Sul.

The Chinese leader was grouped for photos with domestic agricultural and industrial businessmen, state-owned company presidents and parliamentarians. Lula toasted his guest Xi Jinping and the health of China's first lady, Peng Liyuan, who was celebrating her birthday and was not present.

According to the rules in force, goods are incorporated into the heritage of the Union, with the exception of those of a very personal or consumable nature.

The pieces include a Chinese porcelain set and tea service, gifted to Janja, and Marajoara and indigenous Brazilian ceramic vases.

Gifts given by Lula to Xi Jinping

– Water from flying rivers – A bottle of water of maximum purity, in a special edition for the Chinese president, was made by Amazon Air Water, with technology designed to capture atmospheric water and produce water drinking directly from the so-called “flying rivers”. ” of the Amazon.

– Marajoara Vase – Ceramics made by the ancient inhabitants of the island of Marajó (PA) in the 4th and 14th centuries with local clay decorated in geometric styles. Currently, locals in the region create reproductions using the same technique, as a way of preserving and reviving the heritage.

– Waurá indigenous bench – Piece made in the shape of a jaguar by the Waurá people, who live in the north of Mato Grosso. In Waurá cosmology, human beings and animals live together in the forest and have not only physical but also spiritual interactions.

– India Santarem – Ceremonial pottery with small appendages in the shape of humans and animals. Anthropomorphic figurines are distinguished by the naturalism of their representations of men and women. In the region of the lower reaches of the Tapajós River, the so-called Santarém culture flourished, characterized by the production of ceramics with a particular style, based on the use of modeling, incision, dotting and application techniques. The archaeological ceramics of Santarém were produced by the Tapajós Indians between the 900s and 1600s.

– Aralong – Photomontage made by Paraíba artist Christus Nóbrega, who studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, based on an image of the Amazon rainforest, with silhouettes of animals and plants from both countries, an image of an indigenous Kayapó woman and The Chinese Children and the Chimera of (Aralong), a mythological figure resulting from the fusion of a macaw and a dragon.

Gifts given by Xi Jinping to Lula

– Lunar Sample – Fragment of the Moon's soil. In December 2020, during the Chang'e-5 mission of China's Lunar Exploration Program, 1,731 grams of lunar soil samples from the near side of the Moon were collected and reported for scientific purposes. research and 0.3 grams of sample for exposure.

– Miniature probe – A miniature of the Chang'e-5 probe, measuring 43x23x23 cm. Chang'e-5 is China's first unmanned probe to capture lunar soil samples and bring them to Earth. The miniature was made at a scale of 1:28.

– Porcelain plate – the Blooming in Spring bone china plate. The traditional floral motifs that illustrate the piece have been hand painted using the painted gilding technique. They describe a spring full of vitality. Gift to Janja.

– Tea service – Box containing a set of teas specially made to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Sino-Brazilian diplomatic relations. Pu'er tea from the ancient tree of Malipo, Wenshan, Yunnan Province, is a product of rural invigoration. Tea is described as a beverage with a mild, sweet taste and an intense aroma of flowers and fruits. Gift to Janja.

– Silk Road Vase – The decorative cloisonné vase “Synergistic aspiration transcends mountains and seas” is a piece from Beijing. Cloisonne is a technique listed as part of China's intangible cultural heritage. The vase deals with the theme of the Land Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road and is decorated with mountains, seas, clouds and artistic elements of Dunhuang, as well as pairs of shaped metal handles vine and elephant head.

– Movie – DVD edition of the movie “A Tapestry of a Legendary Land”, produced by China Film Co., Ltd and China Oriental Performing Arts Group. The work tells the adventure of a relic seeker who studies the Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, a painting from the Song Dynasty. In the plot, the researcher “goes back 900 years” to witness the hard work of the painter and workers to create the artistic treasure inherited from generation to generation.