A worker makes costumes at a workshop of Unidos de Vila Maria samba school in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Feb. 14, 2020. Each year in Brazil's most famous Carnival celebrations, competing samba schools will pick a topic to base their performance on, and this year the 2,500-member Unidos de Vila Maria chose China. (Photo by Rahel Patrasso/Xinhu

In order to better illustrate the Chinese story, Bara, creator of the performance, and Adilson Jose Souza, president of Unidos de Vila Maria, traveled to five Chinese cities to experience the country, sponsored by the Brazil-China Sociocultural Institute.

"We needed to be in China to feel the emotions, get to know the people, and see the plazas and smart cities," said Bara.

They also attended a special presentation of Peking opera, and borrowed some elements of the performance for their own show, which Bara described as "an open-air opera."