Since the founding of New China, the United States has adopted a hostile policy, and the two countries have been in a tense posture for decades.
But as the United States fell into the quagmire of the decade-long Vietnam War and the need to balance the Soviet Union, the United States began to seek opportunities to improve relations with China.
On February 21, 1972, President Richard Nixon, the first President in U.S. history to visit China, landed in Beijing on Air Force One and began what he called an "ice-breaking trip," and Premier Zhou Enlai also held a grand welcoming ceremony at the airport.
For a long time, because Americans have always been unfamiliar with China, coupled with the very harsh information blockade adopted by the United States after the founding of New China, China may even be more mysterious to many Americans than the moon that successfully landed not long ago.
Nixon, too, later confessed in his memoirs that from the moment he set foot in China, a sense of freshness and mystery had always surrounded him, and even when he inspected the honor guard of the three armed services of the People's Liberation Army of the Chinese, he almost fainted.
In the eyes of the Americans, the PLA honor guard is too unique, their uniforms are simple and unpretentious but distinctive, full of cultural symbols, worn on the solemn, uniform PLA honor guard soldiers, very magical hypnotic sense, Nixon described, walking in front of hundreds of soldiers who are almost exactly the same, the repetitive rhythm instantly makes him a little dizzy, which is a feeling he has never felt in other countries in the world!
That night, Premier Zhou held a grand welcome state banquet, which also opened the eyes of Nixon and the Americans in front of the TV.
Chinese cuisine is now all over the world, and Chinese restaurants can be found in any corner, but in that era, it was quite rare, and only the metropolises would have some, so Westerners were still very unfamiliar and unaccustomed to Chinese food at that time.
Nixon is like this, he deliberately showed himself as a low-key and pragmatic person when he ran for president, just eat a few bites of white cheese on the ketchup, after becoming president, he revealed his true nature, originally still prefer French food, but he did not know anything about Chinese food, so that before visiting China, he also learned to use chopsticks.
China has always believed that "diplomacy is no small matter", the reception of the US president who visited China for the first time is even more devoted, understanding Nixon's tastes in advance, preparing dishes as much as possible to make him acceptable, for this reason also removed a lot of Chinese characteristics but Westerners feel inexplicable dishes, replaced by some dishes that were not common, such as roast pork, sausages, usually will not be served to the formal banquet, but this time it has become a formal dish.
In addition, many dishes that are not traditional Chinese dishes have been added, such as salad made of cucumber tomato, roast duck with pineapple, bread and butter, Americans like to eat shrimp, and two special shrimp dishes have been added. Of course, more is the authentic Chinese cuisine, such as shark fin soup, shiitake mushroom mustard, stewed bamboo shoot soup, sweet and sour fish and so on.
The American news media broadcast the dinner live, and americans saw Premier Zhou Enlai like a humble and dignified person, kindly and warmly giving Nixon a dish and a cup, and that sincere and hospitable thoughtful care can be deeply felt through the TV screen.
Fine wine is the soul of the banquet, Premier Zhou specially prepared for the American guests to store more than 30 years of the best Maotai, when the rustic and unpretentious water white ceramic wine bottle opened, a strong aroma of wine instantly floated through the banquet hall, some American guests could not help but exclaim.
Before Nixon came to China, the CIA had warned him that Chinese liquor was very strong, and Westerners were not accustomed to it, so they tried not to drink it, just symbolically stain their lips. However, Nixon was deeply touched by the strange scene along the way and the hospitality of Premier Zhou, and was in a particularly good mood, and he did not refuse to give a toast to Premier Zhou and other leaders, and soon his face turned a little red.
US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was a little worried, afraid that when he made a toast for a while, he would make a strong look at him, but Nixon pretended not to see, or drank freely, and those who came did not refuse.
Premier Zhou is a very considerate person, do not want Nixon to drink too much, so he smiled and introduced: "Moutai wine is a well-known good wine at home and abroad, do you know, it has more than 50 degrees!" The American guests were very surprised when they heard it.
Premier Zhou took a small saucer, poured a glass of wine, lit it with matches, and suddenly a blue flame rose from the saucer, and the American guests collectively exclaimed again, and Nixon also widened his eyes and said in surprise: "This is almost like the alcohol fuel used on the Apollo spacecraft!" It's amazing! ”
Kissinger quipped, "You've drunk so much wine, you can't smoke a cigarette, lest you spew fire in your mouth." ”
Nixon was in great spirits, and in his toast, he sighed heartily: "This is the week that changes the world, and we have built a bridge spanning sixteen thousand miles and twenty-two years of hostility!" ”
In conclusion, Nixon said, "The American people want to join Chinese people in holding the world firmly in their hands!" ”
Nixon's visit to China was a great success, China and the United States broke the ice of history, signed the "Joint Communiqué," and normalized relations between the two countries, and President Nixon himself also reaped a full harvest, because Premier Zhou specially gave him a box of fine Moutai wine.
After Nixon returned to China, he was also excited to tell his daughter and son-in-law who did not accompany him on his visit to China about What He had seen in China, and when the family dined, Nixon tasted Maotai again, and also showed everyone the "little tricks" he learned from Premier Zhou.
Nixon took a saucer and poured a glass of Moutai wine, but the glass used by the Americans to drink was too large, and as a result, the wine was poured too much, spilled a lot, spilled on the tablecloth, Nixon did not notice, and when the wine in the saucer was lit with matches, the flames suddenly burned on the whole table!
Everyone panicked and hurried to fight the flames, but the flames were very strong, and they could not be extinguished for a while, so Nixon's son-in-law took a small fire extinguisher and tossed it, and even the White House security guards came to help, and finally stopped a fire.
After this little tidbit was reported by the media, it suddenly became a joke for Americans after tea and dinner, both mocking Nixon's unreliability and marveling at the quality of China's Moutai wine.
Many years later, Kissinger visited China again, Deng Xiaoping set up a banquet to entertain him, when he saw Moutai wine, Kissinger remembered Nixon's story again, he told Deng Xiaoping and others again, laughing and saying: "When Premier Zhou gave Nixon a box of Maotai, he almost burned the White House!" ”
After everyone listened, they all laughed.
(References: Nixon's Memoirs, Handshake Across the Pacific, Glory and Dreams)