Bowls hold historic journey

The two Hong bowls, one old (left) and one new, are on permanent display in the John Quincy Adams State Drawing Room in the US State Department in Washington.Chen Weihua/CHINA DAILY

Sculptor Cai Zhisong's works on display in Taipei

Decorative dots speak volumes

Along the table where the two Hong bowls are placed is a 19th-century painting that depicts the business activities by Westerners along the Pearl River, with the flags of Great Britain and Sweden, among others, flying.

Holly says early Americans who went to China wanted to establish relations with the government. It wasn't possible for many years, but it was always an important goal. Official contact between the two governments started about 50 years later.

The Diplomatic Reception Rooms now receive a maximum of three groups of visitors each day by reservation, many of whom are students. Craighill says it gives the students an opportunity to think of the past and the present.

"It provides the opportunity to look at some of these historic moments in Chinese history and American history, and understand the historic journey," she says.

Anne Menotti, a senior advisor at the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, says the journey "started very early in our history with China, and diplomacy continues today with China. It tells the story of early trade and how important China really was to our new nation. If it had not been for China, we would not have had many of the things we needed."

More than 200 years after the trip by the Empress of China, China and the US have become each other's major trading partners, with bilateral trade exceeding $500 billion. They are also the two largest trading nations in the world.

Besides the two Hong bowls, Chinese porcelains, some made with special patterns of an American eagle and even Mount Vernon, decorate the gallery and other space in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms.

Some mahogany chairs also feature designs of Chinese low tables and ball-in-claw feet. Chinese vases and urns from the 19th century are also here and there.

In total, the Diplomatic Reception Rooms have a historic collection of more than 5,000 decorative and fine arts objects, valued at more than $100 million. The project first started in 1961 and was completed in 1982 when the rooms were transformed into what they are today.

Knowing that most people won't be able to visit the place, the Diplomatic Reception Rooms unveiled a digital learning resource, known as the diplomat digital badge, on Feb 12.

People are encouraged to go online and complete educational activities to earn a diplomat digital badge.

In one case, the participant will be assigned as a junior ambassador to the Secretary of State on a visit to the People's Republic of China.

"It's not just for US students. Anybody with an interest can do this quest," Holly says.