Town preps for return of Xi

Expectations are high in Iowa ahead of vice-president's reunion with leaders in Midwest state

MUSCATINE, Iowa - The small town on the banks of the Mississippi River is "Feeling Great", abuzz with excitement and recalling happy memories as it looks forward to the return of an old friend - Vice-President Xi Jinping.

It was 27 years ago that Xi visited Muscatine, an agricultural center in the US heartland, when he led a delegation to learn about farming technology. The delegates were all given badges to wear sporting the town's slogan: "Feeling Great".

Sarah Lande, a resident of the town, had the same feeling early last month when she got a call from Iowa State Governor Terry Branstad.

"Sarah, guess what, I think Xi is coming to our state," Branstad said.

"I was really surprised and excited. I also felt humble, honored and, of course, a little proud," Lande said.

Lande, 73, and her husband Roger, 74, were among several families in Muscatine to host Xi in April, 1985.

Xi, then a local official in North China's Hebei province and director of Shijiazhuang Feed Association, led a five-member delegation to learn about agricultural technology in Iowa, the state that calls itself the Food Capital of the World.

They were visiting as part of an Iowa Sister State program after Hebei and Iowa cemented the relationship in 1983.

The delegation spent two weeks in Iowa, visiting farms, feed suppliers, and grain processing and food biotechnology companies.

The three days Xi spent in the small, charming town of 23,000 left him with fond memories.

At the invitation of US Vice-President Joe Biden, Xi will visit the United States on Feb 13-17. He will arrive in Washington DC to meet with US President Barack Obama and other government officials, and then leave for Iowa and Los Angeles.

On Wednesday afternoon, Xi is due to meet up with old friends for tea in Muscatine before heading for the state capital Des Moines.

Lande, who was the executive director of Iowa's Sister State program for 12 years, is organizing the reunion.

She will prepare jasmine tea, champagne, spring rolls, sweets and other local tidbits for the occasion.

"He wants to meet only the people he has met before," Lande said. "There are 17 of them. It will be at least an hour. We will remember the old days."

The intervening years may have changed appearances, just a little bit, Joan Axel, who also played host to the 1985 Chinese guests, said.

"We all look a little bit different now. He remembers some of his old friends. I think he's curious about what we do now."

Many have retired, but one of the people who took the delegation on a tour around the Muscatine Foods Corp grain processing plant in 1985 still works for that company.

Xi will meet his host family Eleanor and Tom Dvorchak at the reunion. He stayed at their four-bedroom house for two nights in 1985.