Thorny issues between China and the US were put aside as Vice-President Xi Jinping swapped fond memories with old friends in a small farming town along the Mississippi River in Iowa. He visited the state in 1985, when few could have imagined how far he and his country would come.
China's leader-in-waiting added a stop in Muscatine - population 22,000 - to his tight five-day itinerary so he could be reunited with the Iowans he met 27 years ago.
Back then, Xi was a county-level official in Hebei in search of ideas to help his agriculture-rich province; they showed him around the region's hog-and-cattle operations, as well as its abundant corn and soya bean fields.
The gathering, held at the house of Sarah Lande, lasted only about an hour on Wednesday and there was little banter between the Iowans and Xi because he speaks little English.
But many of them were impressed by his charisma and his vivid memory for the details of his 1985 trip.
Xi, who spoke in a deep and confident voice, smiled throughout the chat in a room with dark blue walls, white trim, a large burning fire and Chinese calligraphy hung in two frames.