For the presidents of all countries, they all have their own political leanings.
Among them, George Herbert Bush, the former president of the United States, was once called "an old friend of the Chinese people" by the Global Times.
Indeed, Bush's friendliness to China is very good among successive U.S. presidents, and this is likely related to the fact that he worked in Beijing for 13 months.
Why did the elder Bush come to China to work for more than a year? Because former U.S. President Richard Nixon broke records in 1972 and visited China during his tenure.
After that, the United States established the United States Liaison Office in Beijing.
At that time, there was no diplomatic relationship between China and the United States, and the Liaison Office could only be regarded as a transitional institution. The person who was the director of the liaison office at the time was David Bruce, who later became the U.S. ambassador to China.
The person who took over as director of David Bruce was None other than Bush Sr.
"Travelling to Beijing with the expectation of meeting China's next generation of leaders"
This is what Bush Wrote in his diary, when he believed that China was the key to success in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Later, bush published "Bush's Autobiography," in which he again mentioned the experience of working in Beijing: New China is on the rise, and US-China relations will enter a critical period in the next few years, which will be of great importance not only to Asia, but also to the United States and the whole world.
It can be seen that the elder Bush has two brushes and is quite sober about the development of the world and different cultures.
It is this ability that makes him very passionate about Beijing, a metropolis that has just begun to make strides.
Of course, some people say that the reason why Bush Sr. bush was so keen to run to China was because of Nixon's "Watergate incident," which he felt was "a political nightmare."
It was to get away from this nightmare that he plunged into the land of China.
But in any case, everyone's lifelong encounters are like this, some forced, some voluntary, but it will not affect its normal and good development. Bush's trip to Beijing is a prime example of this.
This year, bush was 49 years old, and as soon as he arrived in Beijing, he showed a good image of interpersonal communication with his wife Barbara.
Their favorite is to learn Chinese, string alleys, and observe the lives of ordinary people.
This is obviously the process of understanding a country's culture, and at the same time, it is also the easiest way to fundamentally understand a region, a region.
Barbara's favorite is traditional Chinese art, what acrobatics, drama, fine arts, she likes.
Of course, she and her husband also like sports, such as playing tennis.
The elder Bush also had his own hobbies, which was riding a bicycle and circling around Beijing.
In the process, Barbara was his best companion, and the couple traveled almost all over the streets of Beijing.
As the days passed, when mr. and mrs. Bush had a deep understanding of life in Beijing, they began to travel to more places and cities, such as Xi'an, Shenzhen, and Guangxi.
He spent half a month and almost half of China.
In this regard, Xi'an's Terracotta Warriors attractions are the most experienced, because the elder Bush was the first foreign guest they received.
Even when Reagan later visited China, he said something like this: "Those terracotta warriors should be familiar with that foreigner (Bush Sr.). ”
However, because of the nature of their work, Bush and his wife spent the longest time in Beijing, about 13 months.
They were given a nickname by the people of Beijing: ambassadors on bicycles.
Of course, the ambassador also had to eat. After Bush and his wife had eaten enough Western food and learned about Beijing, they began to try beijing's cuisine.
However, among several delicacies, the elder Bush has a fondness for "Peking duck." At that time, he would often go to Quanjude with his wife, because what he wanted most was Peking duck.
At the same time, salt and pepper prawns, Beijing-style lamb chops, dried shredded beef, and dried roasted beans have also been ordered on Bush's table many times as side dishes.
Later, the elder Bush left China, returned to be president, and successfully retired, and sent his son to the presidency again, but he never forgot the food he ate in Beijing.
According to media reports, after his son George W. Bush took office, the elder Bush and his son's family would go to the Beijing Hotel in Washington, Virginia, to eat a meal of Chinese food every year.
There, Bush Sr. was able to order what he wanted to eat without looking at the menu. Of course, there must be Peking duck among them, which shows how much he loves it.
The staff of the local Beijing hotel is also very funny, adding a few Chinese dishes that the elder Bush loves to eat plus roast duck into a "Bush menu", which has attracted many diners. But they are often confused about Chinese cuisine, and finally there is a saying: "Come to the Bush menu".
About this matter, almost everyone in the American political circles and the American people knows about it.
The New York Times and the Washington Times and many other media outlets have reported the story of the bush family and the Chinese roast duck.
Bush himself did not shy away from this fact at all, the roast duck was so delicious that he had not eaten enough of it many times.
In 1995, he and his wife Barbara ushered in the golden wedding ceremony, and at their dinner table, Peking duck became the most interesting dish.
Of course, it's true to love Peking duck, and it's true to love China.
After returning to the United States, Bush visited China many times, coming four times a year in 1996 alone.
This is a very positive attitude toward Sino-US relations and has effectively promoted the development of bilateral relations.
After he became president, he even mobilized American politicians to visit China, thus promoting good development between the two countries.
There was no hostility in the world, but it was only because of the pursuit of interests that there was a gap.
I think how beautiful the world would be if all the presidents of all countries had the same mentality of understanding and accepting our country as Bush did.
"When Bush arrived in Beijing in the early 1970s, he really meant to personalize diplomacy, and he thought, if I could get to know the Chinese leader well and the Chinese leader could understand the American leader, then the relationship between China and the United States would be closer and mutually trusting."
This is the sentence written by Jeffrey Engel in his book George W. Bush's China Diaries: The Birth of a Globalized President, and it seems to provide Bush Sr. bush with a good summary of the development of Sino-US relations.
Unfortunately, that era has passed, and now that Bush and his wife have passed away, only the stories they left in the streets and alleys of Beijing are still talked about by those who know about it.