Then Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (3rd R, front) joined dozens of ordinary Americans for tea at a local house owned by his old friend Sarah Lande (3rd, L) in Muscatine, a small city in Iowa, the United States, Feb. 15, 2012. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
Xi made his fourth trip to the United States in 2006 as party secretary of China's eastern Zhejiang province to promote economic and trade cooperation and communication.
When he made his fifth visit to the United States, almost 27 years after his first U.S. trip, Xi, who was then China's vice president, had only one personal request -- a stop in Muscatine, Iowa, to visit his "old friends," including Dvorchak's parents.
Xi and his delegation flew from Washington, D.C. directly to Quad City International Airport on Feb. 15, 2012. The motorcade carrying Xi and a small group of officials then made a 35-mile trip to Muscatine and the home of Roger and Sarah Lande, two of Xi's "old friends," who spent an hour with Xi reminiscing and chatting.
