Xi Jinping (L) presents the granddaughter of his old friend Sarah Lande with a panda doll in Muscatine, a small city in Iowa, the United States, Feb. 15, 2012. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping is in San Francisco for a high-stakes summit with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, seeking the way forward for the strained ties between the world's two largest economies.
It is a coincidence that San Francisco was the first stop of Xi's maiden trip to the United States decades ago. In the spring of 1985, Xi, at that time a county leader of Zhengding in China's northern province of Hebei, took his initial steps onto U.S. soil.
Much like any other city visitor, Xi, a young man in his early thirties, had his picture taken with the Golden Gate Bridge.
That trip helped Xi get acquainted with the United States, and from then on, he fostered friendships with American people. The enduring strength of such amicable bonds has always served as a wellspring of vitality for bilateral ties, both in favorable and in challenging times.
"The Chinese and American people are both great people, and our friendship is not only a valuable asset but also an important foundation for the development of bilateral relations," Xi wrote in a letter to Sarah Lande, author of a memoir entitled "'Old Friends': The Xi Jinping-Iowa Story," in 2022.
Lande, a Muscatine resident working at Iowa's "sister state" organization, helped coordinate Xi's visit in 1985. First impressions always matter. Xi's opinion of the American people has much to do with his first visit to the United States.
Xi led a five-person agricultural delegation to look into farm technology in Muscatine, in the midwestern state of Iowa, a leader in the country's agricultural production of corn and soybeans.
Xi Jinping (L) talks with farmer Rick Kimberley as they sit in the cab of a tractor in Des Moines, Iowa, the United States, Feb. 16, 2012. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
"He had a smile that would not stop," Lande recalled. "He was curious about everything and asked questions about everything."
The itinerary in Muscatine included tours to a corn processing plant, a hog farm and a vegetable farm; interviews with local media; and even a boat excursion on the Mississippi River. A homestay was also arranged for both sides to better understand each other's different cultures, Lande said.
Thomas and Eleanor Dvorchak played host to Xi. He slept in the Star Trek-themed bedroom belonging to the Dvorchaks' son, Gary, who was away at university.
Gary Dvorchak, son of Eleanor and Thomas Dvorchak, the family that hosted Xi Jinping during his 1985 visit to Muscatine, presents the Sino-U.S. Friendship House to visitors, in Muscatine, Iowa, the United States, Sept. 17, 2015. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan)
"I thought he was a very nice, focused, polite man," Eleanor Dvorchak once recounted. According to her, Xi was among the first Chinese friends they got to know.
"There have been some wonderful exchanges between our country and China that have really brought people together in a way that sometimes does not happen in the political arena," said Ricki Garrett, president and CEO of Sister Cities International, a Washington-based non-profit organization.
Xi and his old American friends reunited in Iowa after 27 years in 2012 when he visited the United States as vice president of China.
Despite a tight schedule, Xi made it to the reunion in Lande's house on a snowy day. They gathered around a couch in the living room and reminisced about their joyful memories. The hour-long meeting was filled with laughter. Thomas Dvorchak had a deep impression of the Chinese alcohol that Xi gave to him as a gift. "It was the strongest liquor that I ever had," he told Xi.
File photo taken in February 2012 shows Xi Jinping (2nd R, front) and his old American friends who got to know each other 27 years ago have a tea chat at a friend's home during his visit to the State of Iowa in the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jiansheng)
Some in the crowd, as Lande recalled, popped up a question for Xi: "Why are you coming to Iowa?"
"You were the first group of Americans I came into contact with," Xi told his Iowa friends. "To me, you are America."
Xi never forgets his American friends and believes that people hold the key to state-to-state relations. Over the years, notwithstanding setbacks in China-U.S. relations, Xi has consistently championed people-to-people exchanges with the United States. He wrote letters to Americans and took part in events to help foster friendship.
The most effective way to transform shared opportunities and needs into active collaboration and strong relationships is through direct person-to-person interactions, said Robert Lawrence Kuhn, chairman of the Kuhn Foundation and a long-time China expert. "I can think of no better prescription to start to cure the illness in U.S.-China relations." ■
