Xi is expected to ascend to his nation's highest office in the next year and could lead China over the next decade. Xi got a lengthy Oval Office audience with President Barack Obama, an elaborate reception at the State Department, full military honors at the Pentagon, a gathering with chief business executives and an invitation for dinner at Vice President Joe Biden's house. He will fly to Iowa following the Washington visit and will later stop in California.
China has become an increasingly important trading partner for the United States. It purchased $20 billion in U.S. agriculture exports last year, making it the top buyer of farm goods.
In 1985, Xi stayed with the Dvorchaks, their 15-year-old daughter, and their dog in a four-bedroom, three-bath ranch home. The Star Trek-themed room had been left unchanged after the couple's sons went to college.
Eleanor Dvorchak, now 72, recalled a handsome 31-year-old man who was calm and intensely focused on learning as much as possible during his brief trip. He kept busy until late each day, so all he needed when he returned in the evening was peace and quiet, she said.
"My job was to provide him with breakfast and a quiet place for him to relax and think, to give him time to pull his thoughts together for the next day," she said. "It was just a pleasure to have him in our home. He was very undemanding."
The language barrier made conversation difficult, but Xi was interested in touring the home and seemed impressed with the two-car garage and large concrete driveway that had a basketball hoop, she said.
She speculated that Xi wanted to return because volunteers in Muscatine were generous with their time as they showed the Chinese delegation their farms and the community, and invited them into their homes.
