50 years on: Nixon's historic visit to Shanghai

Ti Gong

Dong Jun / SHINE

As one of the officers in charge of briefing documents for the 37th US President Richard Nixon's icebreaking visit to China in 1972, Xia Yongfang, former assistant to director of the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office, was both a participant in and a witness to the historic event.

"It was such a great and challenging mission that we spent almost three months on preparations," said 81-year-old Xia. "I still clearly remember that six teams were established on December 6, 1971, and moved into the West Building of Jin Jiang Hotel to prepare for the visit, including security, hotel facilities, reception and cultural performances."

As there had been long hostility between the two countries, sanitation workers were asked to clean off or replace some aggressive slogans along the streets. The communications team spent more than one month setting up special lines between China and the US.

Activities were arranged, including an industrial fair and a visit to the China Welfare Institute Children's Palace. Hotels, shops, vehicle fleets, the airport, hospitals and performers all got fully prepared to serve the visiting delegation.

When they came, Shanghai aviation authorities guided 51 American chartered planes to land safely in Shanghai and customs officers completed their entry process within 20 minutes. Interpreters were stationed in Jin Jiang Hotel to ensure international telephone calls got through in two to three minutes.

Ti Gong

Curious guests

Xia and her fellow team members were in charge of keeping a record of the whole visit, from the preparations to the end, so a lot of contact was made with Americans. She found most of them were curious about China.

"Some of them took away chopsticks, coat hangers and cigarettes out of curiosity and brought them back to the US," she said. "They all expressed their love for China, including the delicious food.

"One of the dishes that attracted them was a duck soup served in pumpkins. Some of them joked that they would not eat anything after returning to America so that they would eat more during their second visit to China."

The US officers visited many local places. One day, Xia accompanied a team of security guards to Huashan Hospital where they watched an acupuncture anesthetic cardiac surgery. After anesthetization, the patient could eat oranges and talked with his chest open.

"A 29-year-old man almost fainted when seeing it," Xia recalled. "He regained consciousness after first aid and kept saying 'amazing' and 'incredible'."

Crazy reporting

As Xia had to be on site to write briefings, just like the journalists did, she also saw a lot of American reporters.

"I think they were eager to know more about China. They were so devoted and workaholic that many of them sacrificed dining and sleeping time," she said.

"They were interviewing almost every one they could get in touch with. They asked Shanghai residents a lot of detailed questions, such as their salary, their residence, their savings and even the wet markets. Once we went to a village, and some American reporters rushed into the kitchens and lifted pot lids to see what they ate. It was really crazy."

They were also curious about Chinese people's attitude toward Nixon's visit.

"I remember that one worker in a factory answered that it was good to see China and the US began to talk, but the US government's following actions were more important," said Xia. "The US reporters said they were impressed by Chinese people's trust in and respect for the government."

Xinhua

Hospitality candies

Xia said another episode that impressed her involves White Rabbit candies.

Before Nixon set his feet on the Chinese mainland, Alexander Haig, deputy assistant to the president for National Security Affairs of the US, headed a delegation to China in January 1972 to make logistical arrangements.

They checked the hotel hosting the president, the places he would visit and the venue for press conference on January 7 and they were satisfied. That night, Shanghai government leaders held a banquet for the delegation and toasted Haig who didn't toast back. This made the atmosphere embarrassing as it's impolite in Chinese culture.

"After the dinner, the Chinese diplomats told the Americans about the Chinese tradition, which made them nervous," said Xia. "It's said that relations became cooler after they took a train to Hangzhou in neighboring Zhejiang Province the next day. When Chairman Mao Zedong got to know about the situation, he asked Shanghai to give each of the 27-member American delegation 5 kilograms of candies."

Bright Dairy's Shanghai Yimin No. 1 Foods was told to supply its While Rabbit milky candies but found there were neither enough candies nor sufficient packing boxes. The factory then called up its employees to work throughout the night to produce nine kinds of candies and beautiful boxes to make the gifts ready.

When the Americans returned from Hangzhou, the Shanghai officials greeted them at the airport and welcomed them with a lunch together with the candies.

"The Americans felt the hospitality and goodwill of the Chinese people and they got happy," said Xia. "When the officials encouraged Haig to drink a cup of wine to get warm, he replied that he felt warmer than before, which was believed to be a pun. And he also led some key delegation members across to all the Chinese officials, making a toast to a successful visit of President Nixon and a stronger friendship between Chinese and American people."

Haig later said in some interviews that they brought the candies back to America as gifts for their White House colleagues, including Nixon, who ate one after another.

According to Pan Jianjun, spokesman for Bright Food Group, the handmade White Rabbit candies were first produced in 1959 as a gift to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The creamy candies were very popular among Chinese people who regarded them as a precious treat on important occasions, such as weddings and the Spring Festival.

"Around Nixon's visit, our candies were offered free in the hotel," said Pan. "I think it was a goodwill and cultural ambassador to assist the establishment of the Sino-US friendship."

After Nixon's visit, the candies hit the American market for the first time.

"In the past 50 years, Bright has grown to be more international along with China's reform and opening-up," Pan said. "In the past Spring Festival, White Rabbit gift packages were very popular; its ice-cream products have also reached New York, Los Angeles and Hawaii, as well as other countries like Singapore. Last year, the sales of the diversified products enjoyed a over 200 percent growth in the global market."

Served along with the candies were Western pastries provided by Harbin Food Factory, including cream cakes and hadou, an oblong dessert with chocolate icing and a custard-cream filling.

These products were luxuries for ordinary families in Shanghai back then and are still popular in the city.

Constructive press

Nixon arrived on February 21 and made a short stop in Shanghai before heading to Beijing.

Xia said Nixon and his wife walked down the ramp with smiles. The US first lady wore a red coat. It's said that they learned Chinese people liked red.

In the terminal building of the airport, Nixon had a close look at the calligraphy of Chairman Mao's poem entitled "Long March."

"I heard that he made a good preparation before the visit, including reading Chairman Mao's poems," Xia said. "During the welcoming banquet in Beijing, he quoted lines from another of Chairman Mao's poems, 'Man Jiang Hong' – Ten thousand years are too long, we should seize the moment."

Jin Jiang Hotel provided Shanghai dim sum for them, including small wonton, which was easy for foreigners to eat with spoons. Nixon ate six and was unstinting in his praise.

Accompanied by Premier Zhou, the 278-member American delegation led by Nixon returned to Shanghai from Hangzhou on February 27.

Dong Jun / SHINE

Best Hotel

The US delegation stayed at Jin Jiang Hotel when they were in Shanghai. Nixon and his wife resided in a presidential suite on the 16th floor of the hotel's Grosvenor House, which was built in 1934 and features symmetrical Art Deco style.

He Zhaofa, now 85, was one of the staff serving the American first couple.

He said the hotel spent half a month selecting and training the serving team and making reception arrangements.

He, who had worked in the Peace Hotel in Shanghai and the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, was one of the team members.

"Premier Zhou attached great importance to our work and came to our hotel twice to check the preparations," said He.

According to He, the suite used to be decorated with revolutionary slogans and the premier required it rearrange to meet Nixon's interest in Chinese ancient culture, such as Chinese paintings.

"We borrowed about 100 pieces of antiques from Shanghai Museum, including paintings from the Ming (1638-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and some by modern artists such as Zhang Daqian and Qi Baishi," said He.

Zhou also asked the hotel to modify the structure of the suite to ensure the couple could live more conveniently and comfortably. For example, the wall between the cloakrooms of Nixon and his wife Pat was removed so that they could walk into each other's bedroom directly without startling their security guards who were on duty around the clock.

A stool was put at the end of Nixon's bed in case the bed was not long enough to fit his height.

A piece of porcelain with revolutionary slogans that used to be in a cabinet in front of their bedrooms was replaced by a two-sided embroidery of Persian cats bought by He and his colleague from neighboring Suzhou.

After the release of the Shanghai Communique around 5pm on February 27 in the Grand Hall of the hotel, Nixon and Pat became relaxed and began to appreciate the antiques and decorations in the suite. They saw the embroidery and liked it very much. They asked where to buy such a piece, but Premier Zhou decided to give it to them as a gift.

Another gift to the president was a 3.25-kilogram Phoenix blanket, 2.3 meters long and 1.55 meters wide. A total of 30 such blankets with flower patterns were produced and the other 29 were sold out soon after at the Shanghai No. 1 Department Store.

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Nixon had two meals in the suite, lunch on February 27 and breakfast on February 28, before he returned to the US.

He went to the suite around 2pm on February 27 to have lunch. According to He, the delegation brought water and food from the US but the hotel prepared a menu out of hospitality.

Nixon ordered three dishes – chicken shreds with egg white, straw mushroom stewed with broad beans and braised prawn balls – and ate them all. He said "very good" constantly.

The next day, both Western and Chinese foods were served. Nixon chose the Chinese food, which included grenadine juice, omelet, Shanghai-style sesame fritters and xiaolongbao, or small steamed buns.

"It seemed that he liked the Shanghai dim sum," said He. "He ate one xiaolongbao and two fritters."

He stayed awake throughout Nixon's stay to provide best service.

"We were required to provide timely service. When they arrived, we must serve the tea and towel immediately," he said. "One of my colleagues noticed that the window was making a noise after Nixon opened it, so he fixed it with folded paper."

They also served the president's entourages well.

"We were both nervous and cautious at first but when we saw them tired, we served them tea and coffee," He said. "Gradually we were all relaxed and smiled frequently to each other."

Nixon was obviously satisfied with the hotel service. Before departure, he left words saying "Shanghai Jin Jiang Hotel is one of the best hotels in the world I have ever been to."

Later, he visited Shanghai again in October 1982 and April 1993. He stayed at the Jin Jiang suite in 1982. In 1993, Grosvenor House was undergoing an overhaul, so he lived elsewhere, but paid a special visit to Jin Jiang. When he saw the Grand Hall, he recalled the world history he and Premier Zhou had changed and said it was where China-America relations kicked off.

Seed of international exchange

Zhou Liangtie, 72, was one of the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe actors to perform at the farewell banquet on the night of February 27.

He said the whole troupe practiced for six months to stage the performance for Nixon. He was one of the cast members to perform backward bends, handstands, somersaults and split kicks.

"I was so very nervous that I dared not look at the president at all," said Zhou.

He said he made some mistakes during Haig's preparatory visit and practiced hard after that. Fortunately, he did well in front of Nixon.

Zhou said the performance for Nixon was a prelude to international exchanges for the troupe. It later toured around the world to showcase Chinese acrobatics. In 1980, the troupe visited the US and was welcomed by then US President Jimmy Carter at the White House.

For Gui Yonghao, then a 12-year-old boy, Nixon's visit planted a seed of international exchange in his heart. Gui, former vice president of Fudan University and president of its Shanghai Medical College, said he as a student searched for information about the US after school, including the names and geographical locations of American states and their political, commercial and industrial centers. He thus acquired a good understanding of the country and a broader global vision.

Nixon was unable to visit the Children's Palace set up by Soong Ching Ling and her China Welfare Institute, so Gui, then deputy chief of the student reception group at the palace, and other students guided Mrs Nixon and some other American guests around to show how children were learning art and science there.

"There were many interest groups at the Children's Palace, and the students in the chorus group sang an American folk song, 'Turkey in the Straw.' When the first lady heard it, her eyes turned red," said Gui.

In the 1990s, Gui worked and lived in the US for three and a half years as a visiting scholar. After returning to China and serving as president of the Children's Hospital of Fudan University, he promoted the establishment of a sister-hospital relationship between the hospital and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

In the past 20 years, he has received more than 70 American counterparts in 10 groups visiting China.

Gui is now vice president of the Western Returned Scholars Association of Shanghai, in charge of non-governmental diplomacy.

Looking back on his reception work 50 years ago, Gui said that the experience had a great impact on his life path.

"Friendship between people is key to state-to-state relations. It took root in my heart at that time," he said.