Students from the Iowa City visited by Chinese President Xi Jinping nearly 39 years ago were invited on an all-expenses-paid trip to China by the communist leader himself, proving the city of Muscatine has a special place in his heart .
In 1985, Sarah Lande organized a group from China that visited Muscatine on an agricultural research tour of the United States, and one of the participants was Xi.
The two have stayed in touch over the years, and Lande decided to echo Xi’s remarks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in November, when he expressed his desire to welcome American students to his country.
Lande, whom Xi refers to as an “old friend,” wrote a letter to the president asking him to include Muscatine students among the 50,000 foreign exchange students he said he would like to host over the next five years, the newspaper reported. Des Moines Record.
On January 10, China Daily reported that Xi extended a personal invitation to Muscatine High School students and staff to visit China.
‘I guess there’s something about “Iowa Nice” because it’s never forgotten us. It seems to have stalled,” Lande said.
Students from the Iowa City that Chinese President Xi Jinping visited nearly 39 years ago were invited on an all-expenses-paid trip to China by the communist leader himself.
Sarah Lande, whom Xi refers to as an “old friend,” wrote a letter to the president asking him to include Muscatine students among the 50,000 foreign exchange students she said she would like to welcome over the next five years.
On January 10, China Daily reported that Xi extended a personal invitation to Muscatine High School students and staff to visit China.
The official invitation came three days later, on January 13, and on January 22, 24 students and four staff members were on a plane bound for China.
Xi said he hoped that “more young Americans will visit China, see China with their own eyes, listen to China with their own ears, and measure China with their own steps to glimpse a real China.”
The official invitation came three days later, on January 13, and by January 22, 24 students and four staff members were on a plane bound for China.
Isn’t that the most fucked up thing? But I guess it shows that if (Xi) decides he wants something to happen, it will happen. When China wants something to happen, she puts her mind, soul and money behind it,” Lande stated.
On the all-expenses-paid trip, the group spent eight days visiting local students, touring landmarks such as the Great Wall of China, and participating in a conference for students learning the Mandarin language.
Photos released by the Muscatine Community School District show the group did activities such as visiting Fudan University and discovering details about ancient Chinese paper and writing, and learning how to make dumplings and eat Peking duck.
At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in November, Xi expressed his desire to welcome American students to his country.
Photos released by the Muscatine Community School District show the group did activities such as visiting Fudan University and discovering details about ancient Chinese paper and writing, and learning how to make dumplings and eat Peking duck.
Photos released by the Muscatine Community School District show the group did activities such as visiting Fudan University and learning about ancient Chinese paper and writing.
Muscatine High School student Cole Loos said Voice of America“I was lucky to have my passport to go. It was very spontaneous.”
Ann Edkin, the physical education teacher who accompanied the trio, said, “The fact that he came here is great.” But having that ongoing relationship is not just a temporary problem, but an ongoing relationship that makes it so unique and special.”
‘Actually, I’m very, very proud of them. It seems like they grew super fast in just a few days,” said the school’s Mandarin teacher, Heidi Kuo.
Xi fell in love with Iowa during his 1985 visit, when he was 32 and leading the corn processing delegation from Hebei Shikiazhuang Prefecture on a 12-day visit to rural Iowa.
They toured farms and manufacturing facilities during their research into American food production systems.
From time to time they felt bewildered. After traveling down a four-lane highway, one of the delegation members wondered how they would turn around and come back.
Xi fell in love with Iowa during his 1985 visit, when he was 32 and leading the corn processing delegation from Hebei Shikiazhuang Prefecture on a 12-day visit to rural Iowa.
Gary Dvorchak repurchased his former family home last year for $250,000 and plans to turn it into a museum designed to celebrate Xi’s visit and improve U.S.-China relations.
Xi slept in a bedroom with green carpet and figures of Star Trek characters on the walls. She ate eggs with a spoon because her host forgot her chopsticks.
He enjoyed his time so much that in 2012, when Xi returned to the United States as vice president, he specifically requested a visit to Iowa.
Gary Dvorchak, whose bed was used by the future Chinese president all those years ago, has bought back his old family home with the plan to use it to improve understanding between the two nuclear superpowers.
“Our vision is to really use it to run it as a nonprofit and have it have a positive presence in an otherwise very negative relationship,” he said.