On Friday, September 7th, I traveled to Washington, DC and stepped into China! It’s true, when you visit the Embassy of another country, you are officially on that countries’ land!
The building is stunning! It was designed by IM Pei, the architect who is probably most famous for putting the glass pyramid in front of the Louvre, in Paris. Its a strangely shaped gray concrete structure that looks like it doesn’t have a lot of windows from outside, but when you’re inside, you don’t get that feeling.
We first had a “China Salon” which was a panel discussion about China and its politics. The hosts, all diplomats from the Embassy, talked about Taiwan, working together with the US, tariffs, and more. Here’s a photo from that part of the trip:
After the panel discussion, there was a Q/A session with the audience, and we then went on to another room to enjoy a really good martial arts demonstration by a team from China:
I took a lot more photos, but most of them just look like blurs because the athletes were moving so fast!
After the martial arts performance, it was time for dinner! I tried duck for the first time, and also had fried rice and sweet buns filled with custard.
The best part was meeting with various diplomats and getting to know them. What they did for the Chinese government, what they’ve done in America and much more. Here are some photos of the Embassy staff and me:
with Lieutenant Colonel Zhang Shuangpeng
with Dr. Zhang Yan, the Deputy Chief of Policy for the Embassy
I also got a tour of the different artworks that the Embassy has on display. Some of them are really beautiful!
Panorama of The Great Wall, by Guan Shanyue
The best part of the trip for me was speaking with the diplomats. They were all very impressed that I spoke Mandarin and all of them complimented my teacher! The diplomat who is in charge of Culture, Mr. Mo Liyu, offered to send me books and videos on Chinese culture, which was very kind! I’d love to do this again!