Rolling out the red carpet for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Chinese leadership today conveyed a message of friendship, serving him some exotic Chinese dishes mixed with Bollywood and Western music.

As the two countries signed nine agreements, including one on strengthening the cooperation on the trans-border rivers, the Chinese military band played Flowing River as the background music for the well laid out banquet hosted by Premier Li Keqiang in honour of Singh.

There were other old Bollywood numbers - the likes of 'Mera Naam Choon Choon', 'Baar Baar Dekho', 'Gore Gore' - to strike a chord with music loving Indians.

Also, the background music played 'Red Dates for Family' topping it with 'Our Life Full of Sunshine'.

The banquet had some interesting quintessential Chinese dishes Sponge Bamboo and Mushroom soup, Bean curd with vegetable topped, Grouper to provide a taste of ancient Chinese cuisine.

In many ways Singh's visit, dominated by strategic issues like border differences, had a striking informality. Besides meetings, it was marked by back-to-back banquets hosted by both Li and President Xi Jinping.