A one-hour stay in the Midwestern United States town of Muscatine, Iowa, will give Vice-President Xi Jinping a chance to reunite with old friends, brush up on his down-to-earth image by chatting to the locals and set aside controversies that plague Sino-US ties.
The Mississippi River town may not play a big role in bilateral ties, but it once played a memorable role in showing how Xi interacted with Americans.
In April 1985, Xi, who was the director of a feed co-operative from Hebei province, led a five-member delegation to the Iowan town as the two places had a sister-state relationship. He toured farms, visited the local Rotary Club and watched a baseball game.
Nearly three decades later, Xi will be back for a visit next Wednesday, widely seen as a chance to get a glimpse of how he will shape Sino-US relations after succeeding Hu Jintao as president next year.
Xi, 57, is expected to push for agricultural co-operation with Iowa - a similar purpose of his visit in 1985 - but it will be his interaction with the Iowans he met 27 years ago that will come under the spotlight.
He is expected to briefly meet about 15 Muscatine residents, perhaps over a cup of tea.