Although China and Brazil are two distant countries separated by a 20-hour plane ride, with languages as different as two worlds, their ties have become increasingly closer.

The subway that Rio de Janeiro's residents ride every day is a Chinese underground system, and the ferries that take passengers across Guanabara Bay are Chinese products. Nowadays, China's presence in Brazil has more to do with high tech and culture than with traditional mass-produced, low-cost items.

Boarding Metro Rio is not much different from taking the subway in Beijing, as the Chinese-made trains boast similar blue and steel-gray exteriors and interior seating arrangements.