Date: A certain day in 1972; Venue: White House Cafeteria; Banquet Personnel: Then US President Richard Nixon and his wife, daughter, son-in-law and other families.
The Nixon family
What happened: At the beginning of the family banquet, President Nixon, who was full of ambition for his successful visit to China and the beginning of a new era in Sino-US relations, took out a bottle of Chinese Moutai wine. He said to the family members present with a little mystery, we are going to taste the fine wine "Moutai wine" from ancient China today, which was personally given to me by Premier Zhou Enlai of China, and we must be mentally prepared to taste this fine wine, because the degree of this wine is very high, and now, I will verify how high the degree of this wine is, saying that he took a small dish and poured a plate of Moutai wine on the ground, because it was too full, some wine has spilled over the plate and soaked the tablecloth. But President Nixon did not notice this, still happy to do his experiment, he used the lighter to light the Moutai wine in the dish, the miracle happened, when the lighter fire and the wine in the dish just came into contact, a blue flame instantly lit on the plate, wow! It's beautiful! However, just as people were marveling at the miraculous scene that had happened in front of them, an even more surprising thing happened, the magical blue flame actually went beyond the plate, and along the traces of the soaking of wine, the tablecloth on the table was also lit, and the flame grew larger and larger, and the whole table burned. Seeing this scene, everyone present panicked, and everyone was busy trying to extinguish the flame in various ways, but simple tools could not solve the problem at all, and finally Nixon's son-in-law found a fire extinguisher in the panic to extinguish the flame on the table.
There was no danger, and people quieted down from the panic, but they still couldn't help but feel afraid of what had just happened. If this cannot be controlled, wouldn't it burn the entire White House? Subsequently, a news that "the White House was almost ignited by Moutai wine" did not go away, and it also became the talk of the Americans after tea and dinner at that time.
So why did President Nixon use fire to light this Moutai wine? The story begins with his visit to China at the beginning of the year:
On February 21, 1972, President Nixon visited China with a huge delegation of more than 300 people, which was the first visit by a national leader since the founding of New China, also known as the "ice-breaking journey".
Nixon visited China
Regarding Nixon's visit to China, it caused a great sensation at home and abroad, and indeed brought a great impact to the later world, so I will not repeat them here.
However, some of the ironic passages about the delegation's visit to China have been widely circulated among the Chinese people, and even circulate to this day.
Chairman Mao received Nixon
For example, the "Nine Dragon Cup" and "Ivory Chopsticks" that we placed on the banquet table disappeared and were put in their pockets by the members of the US delegation as souvenirs; President Nixon wanted to climb the Great Wall, but the first night suddenly snow fell heavily, and many members of the US delegation thought that the plan would be canceled, but what they did not expect was that under the order of Premier Zhou, 100,000 armed militia and the masses in Beijing went out overnight, and overnight they had to clear all the snow on the route to the Great Wall, and even the Americans were full of praise for the execution of the Chinese What else did Nixon carefully prepare to meet Chairman Mao, humbling like a student after meeting, and so on, and this Moutai wine that caused the fire in the White House was also one of the many passages circulating in the street.
Nixon climbed the Great Wall
Americans have not come to China for decades, and it is understandable that they are curious about everything when they first arrive, plus China is an ancient civilization with a history of thousands of years, and it is beyond reproach to do more things that can arouse the interest of guests.
Premier Zhou and Nixon at a state dinner
On this day, in order to welcome President Nixon's visit to China, Premier Zhou Enlai held a welcome state banquet at the Great Hall of the People. Since it is a state banquet, of course, we must show the best things in our country, "Friends come with good wine"! Therefore, at this state banquet, the guests were prepared with "Moutai wine" that had won international awards.
This is a Moutai wine that has been cellared for more than 30 years, and as soon as it is opened, the banquet hall immediately floats with a strong aroma. The hospitality of the Chinese has drifted into the hearts of the guests as a fragrance of wine.
Although the Americans were not as good at drinking liquor as the Soviets, driven by curiosity, everyone still wanted to taste the wine. However, before coming to China, the members of the U.S. delegation, especially President Nixon, also did a lot of homework, and they were reminded that China's Moutai wine is a spirit and should not be drunk much.
Of course, Premier Zhou knew the minds of the Americans, looked at Nixon who was eager to try, and then looked at Kissinger, who wanted to go forward to block, but wanted to stop talking, Premier Zhou smiled and said, "The Moutai wine that entertains everyone today is a famous wine that has won awards in the world, but it is a higher degree", said, he poured some wine into a dish in front of him, and then lit it with matches to prove the quality of this wine, looking at the throbbing blue flame, everyone present felt magical, and they were also shocked by the alcohol content of this wine. Even Nixon said, "This may be the dye of the Apollo spacecraft," but Premier Zhou smiled and said, "Good wine is not intoxicating, everyone is welcome to taste."
The banquet ended in a joyful and friendly atmosphere. President Nixon was impressed by the rich aroma and blue flame of Moutai wine.
Before the visit, Premier Zhou Enlai gave Nixon a box of Moutai wine as a gift to witness Sino-US friendship, and Nixon also cherished the wine and brought it back to the White House. He regarded this trip to China as his biggest political capital, and after returning to China, he always relished it and often shared it with others. The lighting of Moutai at the White House family banquet was just a sharing of his recollection of his trip to China, but he only remembered that Moutai wine could burn blue elf-like flames, but he did not notice that premier Zhou poured only a few drops of Moutai wine into the dish.
Deng Xiaoping received Kissinger
Many years later, Kissinger visited China again, and at the state banquet to welcome him, Deng Xiaoping once again received him with Moutai wine, looking at the Moutai wine in front of him, Kissinger could not help but think of nixon's past when he almost burned the White House, and told deng Gong about it. ”