As far as diplomatic courtships go, the US and Myanmar are one of the stranger parings suddenly on show in a fast-changing region. Today eyes will be on that relationship as US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton embarks on the first cabinet-level US mission to Myanmar since 1955.
Rather than a hot, sweaty tango leading to a swift consummation, insiders are expecting something rather more restrained. They predict a long period of handholding as Myanmar's still-powerful generals and their new Washington paramours both weigh up the potential for real and lasting change in one of the region's most repressive countries.
For all the strategic importance of Myanmar reaching out to powers beyond its neighbour China, one key issue - and one that will be felt across the region, including in Hong Kong - is ongoing US sanctions, a part of broader Western action taken against the country.
Despite the optimism generated by a flurry of recent moves from Myanmar's nominally civilian government, including the release of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and easing censorship, the sanctions may still be in place for some time.
'We are really only seeing the start of the process,' said one senior Washington official ahead of Clinton's mission. Everyone must remember that there is nothing easy about lifting sanctions ... Congress, for example, must be involved, and there will have to be input from various people, including exile groups and human rights organisations that may not be quite as sanguine as the more optimistic out there.'
Suu Kyi, a proponent of sanctions during her long years of house arrest, has recently switched her stance to neutral as she works with President Thein Sein, a former junta general, to push for further reforms. Those range from the release of all political prisoners still languishing in prison to efforts to improve the rule of law and bring peace to the country's long-simmering ethnic wars (see below).