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this article is reproduced from [xinhuanet];

xinhua news agency, brasilia, september 22, title: across 18,000 kilometers, "handshake" on the other side of the earth

xinhua news agency reporters ju zhenhua, zhao yan and wang tiancong

looking at the brazilian presidential palace, parliament building, museum and other distinctively designed buildings passing by the car window, pan lu, an accordion player of the chinese people's liberation army military band, seemed particularly excited, and did not show any fatigue from the nearly 30-hour continuous flight.

she and seven other members of the military band performance team are wearing military band uniforms and preparing for a special "military band flash mob" performance. this is one of the activities of the chinese military culture week held by the political work department of the central military commission in brazil, and it is also the first time that the chinese people's liberation army military band has performed in a foreign community.

"in the past, when we performed military music abroad, we performed for the audience who came to us on their own initiative. today is different. we performed for ordinary people in foreign communities," said pan lu, who had just participated in the spassky belfry international military music festival in russia. "one is the 'audience' and the other is the 'people'. it feels very different."

at 10 a.m. local time on the 21st, the brasilia import and export small commodity wholesale and retail market, the largest small commodity market in south america, was crowded with people. in a corner of the market, a group of chinese musicians from more than 18,000 kilometers away were about to present a unique auditory feast.

trumpet player guo sixiao walked into the crowd, and the soft sound of the trumpet penetrated the market, attracting people to stop. the team members walked into the market while playing, and the crowd on both sides automatically made way for an aisle. after the song was finished, the crowd automatically gathered around, forming a "stage" without a sense of distance.

"i have been in brazil for 25 years and have never seen any music performances in this market. i didn't expect that the first thing i heard was a military band's performance." liu xiuping, a chinese shop owner from wenzhou, zhejiang, said, "when i heard "singing the motherland" in a foreign country, i truly felt the strength of my motherland!"

when well-known brazilian music such as "brazilian watercolor" and "the girl from ipanema" sounded, the atmosphere on the scene reached a climax. the enthusiastic and unrestrained brazilian people walked to the center of the "stage" one after another, danced the brazilian samba to the rhythm, and some people couldn't help humming along.

"i was just strolling around today, and suddenly i was attracted by this performance. i love it so much!" said lusiao, a resident who lives nearby. his girlfriend andrea was unable to come to the scene to watch such a wonderful performance, so he immediately made a video call and conducted an "exclusive live broadcast" for his girlfriend.

lu suo's actions were noticed by the members of the military band. "although we didn't know each other, we could clearly feel the emotional transmission between us, regardless of national boundaries," said suona player zhang ziyong. "later, lu suo came over to shake our hands and didn't let go for a long time."

when two hands are tightly clasped across the two ends of the earth, the performance has meaning. after the performance, lusiao admitted that he did not know much about china, but this performance taught him that china is open and friendly and worth making friends with.

this is just like the opening quote from china's "analects" by vice admiral yunis, deputy chief of staff of the brazilian navy, during the foreign affairs visit that day - "isn't it a pleasure to have friends coming from afar?"; it is even more like the poem to which major general mao naiguo, head of the chinese military culture week delegation, responded - "a bosom friend afar brings a distant land near."