But what about the old folks back in Chinatown who welcomed the president with lion dances and large red-and-yellow banners?

It cost them years of membership and donation fees to some of the oldest Chinese associations in Seattle and four hours of waiting, standing and rehearsals.

The 200 overseas Chinese who met Mr Hu at the Fairmount Olympic Hotel were all leaders of the local Chinese associations, many of them more than 60 years old.

They arrived at the hotel at around noon, four hours before their meeting with Mr Hu, to go through security checks with the US Secret Service.

After that, embassy staff ran through several rehearsals with them.

They were divided into about three groups and had to practise walking up the stage, standing in straight lines for photos, and then walking down the stage.

Even after all the waiting and rehearsing, Kwong Louie, a 72-year-old who is still waiting for his group photo to arrive, said it was worth it.

'It's a rare opportunity to meet with the leader of a country with 1.3 billion people,' he said.

'We were just happy to see him. It was like meeting the emperor.'

Meeting member of the local Chinese community during visits overseas has become a routine for Mr Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao . It plays to their motto of leading a people's government.

In the Seattle hotel, the ballroom where the Chinese waited for the presidents had about a dozen seats - but no one was allowed to sit in them. Each of these seats, except for the one reserved for Mr Hu, had a piece of paper with an official's name on it.

Some of the knees of the elderly in the crowd were seen shaking as Mr Hu gave his speech. Fortunately, none fainted. 'I didn't get tired but there were others who were older than 80,' Mr Louie said. 'They couldn't make it the next day to send the president off.'