Feature: Small town on Mississippi River cordially welcomes Chinese musicians

To Americans, Muscatine is a place few know where it is. But to Chinese, its popularity is growing due to its special connection with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Thirty years ago, when Xi, then party secretary of Zhengding County in China's northern province of Hebei, led a five-person delegation to Muscatine on the Mississippi River in the state of Iowa and stayed with a local family for two days. Xi was so impressed with the hospitality of local residents that he came back to meet his old friends during his visit to the United States in 2012 as vice president.

On Tuesday night, Muscatine residents embraced the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, which was here on their last leg of a U.S. performance tour, with the same warmth.

Mr. and Mrs. Snydacker drove conductor Peng Jiapeng back to their home, a three-storey house on a hill. Before the luggage was unpacked, the hostess eagerly showed Peng around their house. The Chinese guest was also introduced to other members of the family with a deaf cat and a lively small dog named Chestin.

"I travel a lot and usually stay in hotels. I never feel at home like now," Peng told Xinhua.

On the other side of the town, Sarah Lande, who helped arrange Xi's tour here in 1985 and hosted him in 2012, welcomed Jiang Kemei, a Chinese Banhu virtuoso, into her house.

The Landes and the Snydackers are only two of the 21 local households that volunteered to host the Chinese musicians. To let their Chinese guests feel at home, the families held seven meetings beforehand to deliberate on the details of the arrangements and learning about Chinese living habit.

Speaking at a get-together for the host families and Chinese musicians, Mrs. Lande cordially told Chinese musicians: "We welcome you with an open heart, and we share our family with you."

The Chinese musicians had a tight schedule in Muscatine. They visited the Muscatine Library, listened to the choir of Muscatine Community College, and interacted with music band members of Muscatine High School. They were also the first delegation the newly elected mayor of Muscatine received at the City Hall.

They gave a concert Wednesday evening in the auditorium of Muscatine Central Middle School, which was unusually crowded with local residents. Every piece of music presented by the Chinese musicians drew lasting applause.

Chinese Consul General in Chicago Zhao Weiping joked before the show started: "I have been to Muscatine many times in the past few months and have never seen so many people in the city (like today)."

"We have brought here the friendship of the Chinese people, and will bring back the friendship of the people of Muscatine," Zhang Yu, board chairman and president of China Arts and Entertainment Group, which organized the performance, told the audience. "To me, Muscatine means friendship."

The house where Chinese President Xi stayed in Muscatine in 1985 has been developed into a Sino-U.S. Friendship House to showcase the friendship between China and the United States with photos and souvenirs.

"We have a great person starting out this relationship, and so, what a great way to carry it forward with great (Chinese) musicians," Sarah Lande said at the welcoming ceremony. Endi