One day in 1972, inside the White House across the ocean, Nixon and his family were eating. The family laughed and laughed, and it didn't look lively. Just then, the White House security guards suddenly saw the reflection of the sky-high flames reflected in the window, accompanied by the screams of the Nixon family.
Nixon
The security guards rushed in, only to see that the dining table was full of flames, and Nixon and the others were fighting the fire. The security guards immediately joined in, tossing and turning before extinguishing the flames. Immediately after, Nixon laughed and said, "This Moutai wine is really good..."
So, what is this small "fire" in the White House? Why did Nixon mention "wine" after the fire was extinguished?
On February 21, 1972, Nixon officially set foot on Chinese soil and began his week-long visit to China. At 11:00 a.m. on the 21st, a special plane from the United States landed at the Beijing airport. Nixon, who stepped out of the plane, took the initiative to extend his hand to Premier Zhou, and the moment the two sides shook hands, Premier Zhou said a sentence that will never be recorded in history: "Mr. President, your hand has reached across the world's most vast ocean - there has been no contact for 25 years!" ”
Nixon visited China
Both China and the United States have a lot of feelings, from the previous relationship of old and dead to the current step, the effort spent is needless to say. China attaches great importance to Nixon's visit to China, and the honor guard consists of 371 people. According to the custom, when the president of another country visits, China's honor guard is generally 150 people. In addition, the card surface has also changed from the original 50 people to 120 people, which is enough to see its grand scale.
Although Nixon saw a serious expression, neatly aligned PLA honor guard was a little afraid, and even Nixon wrote in his memoirs that "I almost fainted", Nixon was still very satisfied with China's high-etiquette reception, and he happily said to Premier Zhou: "The Chinese honor guard is the best one I have ever seen!" ”
After the welcome ceremony, Premier Zhou and Nixon and his party got into a "Red Flag" car and came to the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. After a brief break, the Nixons arrived at a luncheon banquet held specifically to welcome them to China.
In addition to the dishes dedicated to entertaining distinguished guests, the luncheon also included three courses that Chairman Mao personally added for the Nixon couple, namely: boiled water ski, shark fin chicken and steak. When The Nixons found out, they were very happy and ate a lot in one go, admiring the good taste while eating.
However, in these three dishes, the dish "boiling water skiing" Nixon did not eat much at first, and even faintly unhappy. Because the main ingredient of "boiling water skiing" is the tail of the blue fish, that is to say, this dish has a lot of fish bones, which is a kind of torture for Nixon, who does not like to eat spiny fish.
It wasn't until Nixon understood the moral behind the dish that things changed. It turns out that the tail of the blue fish is the most powerful part of the fish, and when the fish swims in the water, it relies on the strength of the tail, which is like the rudder and thruster of the ship.
Chairman Mao wanted to use this dish to express to Nixon that he hoped that from now on, they would jointly promote the relations between the two countries and their subsequent development, and even promote the development of the world. Although Nixon chose to visit China more for the benefit of the United States, Chairman Mao's expectations were indeed what Nixon thought. So, when Nixon learned about it, he happily ate "boiling water skiing."
It can be said that everything in China made Nixon feel both strange and surprised, and he could not forget the week-long trip to China, especially the Moutai wine at the state banquet, and the "tricks" performed by Premier Zhou.
On the evening of the 21st, our country held a grand state banquet to welcome Nixon's arrival. The warm atmosphere at the banquet site was transmitted through international satellites, and thousands of households in the United States opened the eyes of Americans who did not know much about China.
From ancient times to the present, our country has been "friends from afar, happy", especially Nixon is not only a "friend", but also the president of the United States. In order to show sincerity and respect, our country has made a lot of efforts. From the songs of the banquet to the dishes, almost all efforts are made.
First of all, in terms of banquet songs, Premier Zhou chose two American songs: "Beautiful America" and "Home on the Ranch". When the song was played, the Nixons were deeply surprised, they never imagined that at a banquet held in China, they would not use their own music, but instead play American music.
The Nixons felt valued, as did the other Accompanying American officials, and the two songs were unanimously praised by all Americans, and the atmosphere of the banquet was instantly pushed to a climax.
Nixon then took his seat with his guide. When Nixon saw the dishes on the table, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Oh my God. In order to entertain distinguished guests from across the ocean, dozens of dishes were prepared for the state banquet, including 9 cold cuts, 6 hot dishes, 7 dim sum dishes, and various desserts and fruits. This specification was rare after the founding of New China, and it is no wonder that Nixon was surprised.
The picture shows the banquet scene during Nixon's visit to China
In the choice of dishes, the chefs of the state banquet also racked their brains. Considering Nixon's American status, perhaps not accustomed to purely Chinese cuisine, the chefs switched to some dishes that were not often seen at state banquets, such as grilled meat and grilled sausages.
At the same time, in order to take care of the tastes of Nixon and other American guests, I also prepared salad, bread and butter at the state banquet. I heard that Americans love to eat shrimp, and we have specially prepared two large prawns with American flavor. At the same time, considering that Americans do not use chopsticks, our country has prepared knives and forks for them.
After everyone sat down, Premier Zhou enthusiastically gave Nixon cloth dishes sitting next to him, and everyone felt premier Zhou's kind care. Nixon whispered "thank you" and then made an unexpected move, instead of choosing a knife and fork, he picked up chopsticks as spares.
Premier Zhou was a little surprised and asked, "Does Mr. President use chopsticks?" ”
Nixon was a little proud: "Of course, it's all about experiencing authentic Chinese food." ”
After saying that, he unhurriedly picked up the delicious food on the plate with the chopsticks in his hand and put it in his mouth to taste it slowly. Nixon's one-trick-and-one approach attracted the attention of the reporters present, and the scene was also reproduced on American television through satellites.
Afterwards, everyone learned that for the success of this visit to China, Nixon practiced the chopstick eating skills before the visit, on the one hand, in order not to look foreign, on the other hand, to show the importance he attached to the visit.
Premier Zhou
Premier Zhou saw Nixon's careful thinking and smiled and gave Nixon some dishes. Then the prime minister pointed to the cigarette case with the panda painted on it and said to Nixon, "I want to give you this." Nixon was a little confused, what does it mean to send cigarettes? He hesitated for a moment and said, "You're going to... Send me a cigarette? ”
The Prime Minister shook his head and explained, "Not a cigarette. I mean to send you two pandas. Nixon was so surprised that he turned to his wife and said, "Hear me?" Premier Zhou Enlai said he was going to send us two pandas, real pandas! "As a national treasure of China, pandas are very precious and rare, and only China has them in the world, and many Westerners especially like pandas."
That's why Nixon was so excited when he heard the prime minister's decision. Just as Nixon was happy, the American sitting in front of the television jumped up in excitement. The Washington Post immediately commented: "Zhou Enlai conquered the hearts of Americans at once through the cute pandas. ”
During this period, Premier Zhou also stored several bottles of Moutai wine that had been stored for decades, and opened them to entertain Nixon and others. When a mellow smell of wine, centered on the opened canister, escaped and filled the entire banquet hall, all Americans could not help but sigh.
Nixon couldn't help but ask, "What kind of wine is this?" The prime minister replied with a smile: "This is the well-known Moutai wine at home and abroad, and its degree is as high as more than 50 degrees!" When Nixon heard this, he was very surprised, was such a bowl of wine that looked like white water more than fifty degrees? The Prime Minister raised his glass, gestured to Nixon, and then took a slow sip. Seeing the situation, Nixon also raised his wine glass and drank it in one sip, only to be choked by the high-purity Moutai and he knew how badly Moutai was.
But then came a mellow and long taste, evocative, Nixon drank his head, not even seeing Kissinger's hints and advice, or Premier Zhou stopped it, before asking Nixon to stop, Nixon smiled and said: "Sorry, but Moutai is really delicious." ”
Premier Zhou also laughed, and then took a small saucer from the table, poured some Moutai into it, lit it with matches, and in an instant a cluster of blue flames rose from the plate. Nixon's eyes widened in amazement: "This is simply the alcohol fuel used on the Apollo spacecraft, it is amazing!" Hearing Nixon's description, everyone couldn't help but laugh.
Until the end of the banquet, Nixon was still reminiscing about Maotai. On February 28, 1972, China and the United States officially signed the Joint Communiqué, and at the farewell banquet before returning home, Nixon once again raised his glass full of Maotai and said with great ambition: "We have been here for a week, this is the week that changes the world!"
At this point, Sino-US relations have finally set sail to the road of normalization. At ten o'clock in the morning of February 28, Nixon boarded a special plane to the United States, and returned with him, along with several bottles of Moutai wine...
After Nixon returned to China, he couldn't wait to share this trip to China with his family, especially focusing on Moutai wine, talking about excitement, and also took Moutai out of the box and showed it to his family. Then Nixon took out a plate, put it on the dinner table, and said excitedly, "I'm going to show you a trick I learned in China." ”
After saying this, Nixon took apart the Moutai and poured it into the plate. Nixon was in such a hurry that he accidentally spilled some on the tablecloth, and he was so immersed in the excitement of "showing off the trick" that he didn't pay attention at all. Nixon carefully lit the match, and the flame spread along the wine sprinkled on the tablecloth. The crowd was startled, and that was the opening scene.
After timely rescue, the fire was successfully extinguished and did not evolve into a large fire. After this incident was passed out, it became a joke after the tea and dinner of americans. Later, when Kissinger visited China again, he took the initiative to talk about this matter, and he smiled and said: "The Moutai wine that Nixon brought back almost burned the White House!" ”