1. PM Modi welcomed the Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mahabalipuram wearing Veshti and Dhoti, Tamil Nadu’s traditional dress, which was appreciated by the political leaders and public of Tamilnadu.

2. The Veshti had high-toned Karai (dhoti sporting a border in green colours), half sleeve white shirt and classy Angavastram (a shawl).

3. Xi took delight in watching a dozen of Tamil cultural performances by both Bharatnatyam artistes and folk dancers, while hundreds of school children welcomed him waving Indian and Chinese flags on the streets as he arrived at the venue of the summit.

4. There were about 500 Tamil folk artists that performed numerous folk dances including ‘poi kal kuthirai’ and ‘tapattam’ whilst brightly coloured traditional sari draped women performed the Bharatnatyam dance to the accompaniment of ‘nadaswaram’ and ‘ thavil’, both traditional South Indian musical instruments.

5. The Chinese premier Xi was treated to a sumptuous meal of varied South Indian dishes covering an assortment of curries, fried and cooked vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

6. The PM offered tender coconut to the Chinese premier and other officials considering its host of health benefits.

7. Modi was seen receiving Xi near Arjuna’s Penance and taking him inside the popular rock-cut temple explaining to him its various specialities.

8. There was a statue of Buddha strategically placed outside the Shore Temple for instant cultural connect.

9. The site for the two-day informal summit, Mahabalipuram, as reported by the media sources, was chosen by Modi himself after considering several other places in India.

10. The reason cited for preferring Mammalapuram over other places is the interest of President Xi in history and tradition, and notably the region’s age-old cultural and economic ties with China.

11. On the second day, Modi hosted a one-on-one meet with Xi Jinping at the famous Fisherman’s Cove resort following which there was delegation-level talks.

12. Modi himself took President Xi Jinping on a guided tour at Mammalapuram, a UNESCO declared heritage site.

13. The tour started at Arjuna’s Penance where Xi Jinping was received by the Indian Prime Minister following which the duo visited Krishna’s Butter Ball, Five Rathas and Shore Temple.

14. Modi won the hearts of millions of people across the country and abroad when he plogged for over 30 minutes during his morning walk on the Mahabalipuram beach where he collected plastic litter, water bottles and thrash using a plastic bag and handing it over to a hotel staff later.

15. The objective of this exercise is to promote his popular ‘Clean India’ campaign started in 2014 as well as ‘Fit India’ campaign initiated earlier this year.

16. Modi was also seen carrying an acupressure roller while plogging on the beach, and later tweeted on it when an intrigued Twitterati raised questions about it.

17. Modi also penned a poem in English experiencing the bliss and freshness of the sea waves and breeze which he later released online.

18. A Tamil rendition of the poem was recently released much to the excitement and delight of the people of Tamilnadu.

19. Modi and Xi Jinping exchanged traditional gifts with each other. Modi presented Xi with an intricately hand-woven portrait in exquisite red silk of the latter , 6-feet high Annam lamp finely coated with gold and a 3-feet high Thanjavur painting of dancing Goddess Saraswathi to Chinese President Xi Jinping, while Xi reciprocated with a porcelain memento carrying the Indian PM’s image.

20. Tourists who were earlier blocked from visiting the temple monument flocked to visit the place post the Modi-Xi summit most of them seen trying to locate the places where the two powerful Asian leaders conducted bilateral discussion.