Connecting to the World

When American and Chinese leaders visit one another, the itineraries tend to be dispiritingly familiar. If it's a U.S. leader going to China, there's the obligatory stroll atop the Great Wall, perhaps a photo-op with the Terra Cotta soldiers in Xi'an, and a quick trip to Shanghai to meet American business people and marvel at Pudong's surreal skyline. If it's a PRC leader coming to the U.S., there are dinners with politicians in Washington, meetings with corporate titans in New York, a barbecue on a private ranch or estate somewhere out west, and perhaps a visit to a Chinese language class at an urban high school.