The lights are blazing from the world's largest floating Christmas
tree -- a gigantic metal structure as tall as a 27-storey tower block
set on a lagoon in Rio de
Janeiro.
With the mountain-top Christ the Redeemer statue looking down on it,
the 82-meter tree stands as a brightly flashing symbol of peace in one
of the world's most violent cities.
"We're competing with all the violent news from Rio to show the
world what a marvelous city it is," Roberto Medina, the project's
creator, told reporters during a boat tour on the Rodrigo Freitas lagoon
on Tuesday night.
The tree features moving images of church bells and doves flickering
from nearly 3 million lights.
The Christmas tree, first erected in 1996, constitutes Rio de
Janeiro's third biggest tourist event after the pre-lenten Carnival and
New Year's Eve on Copacabana and other beaches.
Some 100,000 people came to watch on Saturday night when the lights
were switched on and more than a million are expected to view the
structure before the lights are turned off on Jan. 6.
"It's beautiful. Rio isn't just shootings and killings,"
said Sandra Gomes de Faria, a 51-year-old retired telephone operator.
Around 1,300 workers were hired to assemble the tree, constructed
from 410 tons of metal scaffolding
supported by 11 barges.
Bradesco Seguros e Previdencia, Brazil's largest insurance company,
spent 2 million reais on the project.
The Guinness Book of Records lists it as the world's largest floating
Christmas tree.
In comparison, the Christmas tree in New York's Rockefeller Center is
71 feet tall and has 30,000 lights, although it is a real Norwegian
spruce.
Rio, which has one of the world's highest murder rates, was rocked by
violence last week as rival drug gangs fought for control of drug
distribution points in city slums.
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世界上最大的“水上圣诞树”上灯火闪耀——这棵金属结构的巨大圣诞树有27层楼那么高，耸立在巴西里约热内卢市环礁湖的湖面上。
在坐落于基督山顶上的耶稣神像的俯视下，这棵82米高的大树矗立着，成为里约热内卢市——世界上最不安定的城市之一——里一个熠熠生辉的和平符号。
“我们正在和里约热内卢的一切暴力消息做斗争，向世界展示这是一个多么神奇和伟大的城市。”周二晚，这个项目的策划人罗伯托·梅迪纳泛舟罗德里戈湖（Rodrigo
Freitas）时对记者说。
这棵“树”用将近300万颗灯泡设计出变化生动的景象，如忽隐忽现的教堂风铃和挥动翅膀的鸽子。
这棵圣诞树始建于1996年，成为里约热内卢继大斋戒前的狂欢节、新年前夕盛会（在科帕卡巴纳等海滩上举办的烟火表演）之后的第三大旅游盛事。
约有10万人观看了星期六晚上的亮灯仪式，预计1月6日灭灯之前，还将有100多万人前来观赏这座建筑物。
“它很美丽。里约热内卢并不仅仅意味着枪击和杀戮。”51岁的退休话务员桑德拉·戈梅斯·德法里娅说。
这棵圣诞树是用410吨重的金属台架搭成的，整个组装工程动用了11艘驳船（来运输材料），雇佣了大约1300名工人。
巴西最大的保险公司Bradesco Seguros e Previdencia为这个项目投保200万雷亚尔（巴西货币单位）。
《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》将它收录为世界上最大的“水上圣诞树”。
相比之下，纽约洛克非勒中心的圣诞树只有71英尺高，上面点缀着3万只灯泡，尽管那是一棵真正的挪威云杉。
里约热内卢市拥有世界上最高的谋杀率，上个周又遭到了暴力行为的震撼——两帮贩毒团伙在城市的贫民区为争夺对毒品分散据点的控制权展开械斗。
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