Brazil coffee exhibition highlights China ties

A new exhibition at the Santos Coffee Museum explores the deepening cultural and economic ties between Brazil and China through the lens of coffee.

Themed "The Black Gold and the Dragon," the showcase is part of the 2026 China-Brazil Cultural Year. It highlights how Brazil's most iconic export--much of which departs from the very docks surrounding the museum--is gaining popularity among Chinese consumers while symbolizing expanding trade and people-to-people ties.

"Coffee is one of the main exports we have in Brazil. So being able to show it in a completely different way, and the relationship it creates with another country, on the other side of the world, with a completely different culture from ours, is extremely rewarding," said Debora Lobo, an infrastructure analyst.

"I'm loving it. It's very beautiful. There are so many details in each," said Salete Silva, a shop owner.

Artist Camila Arruda created 15 works on display, including paintings, sculptures, installations and videos. She said that the idea came after her first visit to China in 2019, when she was struck by the number of coffee shops in a country traditionally associated with tea.

"This first part of the exhibition is dedicated to the spiral way of thinking in Chinese culture and to the Chinese cosmology as well. The second part, it presents coffee as a symbol in China. So, it actually makes a comparison of the symbolism of coffee in Brazil and the symbolism in China. And then the final part of this exhibition introduces the public to the dream of Chinese people, dream of leading technology. They don't want to be producing what the world will consume now. They want to dictate what's new," said Arruda.

Arruda added that she tried to symbolize coffee, a Western commodity, within pixelated Chinese works.

"This is part of my research as an artist. I think it has a lot to do with the concept of this exhibition because we are here to introduce symbolism, right? And we have a very, especially coffee; it has very Western way of looking at it as just a commodity when it's actually a symbol," said Arruda.

Xie Yancun, deputy consul general of China in Sao Paulo, said that he hopes the show could serve as a platform to bring the people of the two countries closer.

"Today, the Coffee Museum is hosting the exhibition Black Gold and Dragon, allowing the dragons of the East and the black gold of Brazil to come together across mountains and seas. I believe this will provide an excellent platform for the Brazilian people to understand Chinese culture and enhance the friendship between the two countries," said Xie.

The show runs until September.

Brazil coffee exhibition highlights China ties

China's cultural and tourism market showed solid growth during the 2026 May Day holiday, with domestic trips and total spending both ahead of last year’s holiday, according to official data released on Thursday.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced that 325 million domestic trips were made across the country during the 5 day holiday, representing a 3.6 percent increase from the same period last year.

Tourists spent 185.49 billion yuan (about 27.08 billion U.S. dollars), up 2.9 percent year on year, the ministry said, citing calculations from its data center.

Public cultural institutions across the country organized around 49,400 cultural events during the holiday, attracting approximately 88 million tourists, the ministry noted.

Nighttime cultural tourism in key centers remained robust, with major nighttime tourism destinations receiving more than 80.41 million visits, an increase of 6.44 percent year on year.

During the May Day holiday, around 32,000 commercial performances, excluding performances in entertainment venues, were held nationwide, generating box office revenue of 2.476 billion yuan (about 364 million U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 14.66%.

Trips by foreign nationals to and from China during the holiday rose to nearly 1.26 million, a 12.5 percent increase from a year earlier, with 436,000 travelers arriving visa-free, up 14.7 percent.

Chinese make more domestic trips, spend more money during 2026 May Day holiday