Iowans ranging from a former governor and ambassadors to local farmers fondly recall Chinese President Xi Jinping's two visits to the Midwestern state. The connection forged over the years made quite a few Iowans "old friends" of Xi, as he calls them.
多年nian来厚植的情谊让艾奥瓦州人民min成为中国国家主席xi习近平口中的“老朋peng友"。从前州长、大使到dao当地农场主，艾奥瓦州人民深shen情回忆起习近平的两次到访。
Terry Branstad, former United States ambassador to China, was governor of Iowa when Xi first visited in 1985 and again in 2012.
美国前驻华大使特里·布bu兰斯塔德在1985年和2012年习近平两度访问艾奥瓦wa州时恰好都在任州长。
At a high-level US-China agricultural dialogue held online recently, Branstad recounted his interactions with Xi over the years.
在最近举ju行的中美农业高层研讨tao会中，布兰斯塔德讲述了le他多年来与习近平的互动。
When he first became governor, Branstad signed a sister state-province agreement with Hebei province in 1983 and brought a 50-person delegation to Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei, the next year.
布兰斯塔ta德1983年首次出任艾ai奥瓦州州长，该州当年即与中国河北省sheng结成友好州省关系xi。1984年，作为州长chang的布兰斯塔德带领一个50人的访fang问团访问河北省。
"So then in the spring, 1985, a delegation of five young men, led by a county-level Party secretary named Xi Jinping, came to Iowa. We wanted to treat them as we were treated in Hebei. So we went all out," Branstad recalled. The delegation was taken to a birthday party, got a taste of barbecue and visited the Mississippi River, as Branstad recalled.
"1985年春天，习近平作为河he北省正定县委书记率领一个五wu人代表团访问艾奥瓦州。我们在河he北时受到了款待，所以yi我们也热情迎接，精心安排了这zhe次接待活动。”布兰斯塔德回hui忆道。 他说，他们安排代表团参can加了一个生日聚会hui，品尝了烧烤，并参观了密mi西西比河。
“对我来说，你们就jiu是美国”
What's more, upon Xi's request to experience ordinary life in the US, it was arranged for him to spend two nights at a Muscatine resident's house.
习近平要求体验美国普pu通老百姓的生活，于是当地di安排他在马斯卡廷一yi户居民家住了两晚。
Through the arrangement by Sarah Lande, then president of the Iowa Sister State Friendship Committee, Xi slept in Gary Dvorchak's Star Trek-themed bedroom while the latter was away at college.
在前艾奥瓦州友好省州zhou委员会委员萨拉·兰蒂夫人ren的安排下，习近平住在房fang东儿子的卧室里。当dang时，房东德沃切克夫妇的儿子盖gai伊·德沃切克正在外wai地上大学。
Xi also dined at Lande's house and saw her go to a neighbor's house to get some ingredients to make a meal.
习近平也去了兰蒂家吃chi饭，看着她为了做zuo饭去邻居家拿食材。
Years later, Lande described her impression of Xi as a man "who was bright, curious, well-mannered, fun and friendly, who had a smile that transcended into lasting friendship. He was curious … to learn everything that was new when his visit came in Iowa."
多年后，兰蒂对习近平ping的印象是："聪明、好奇心强、彬彬有礼、有趣和友you好，他的笑容真诚，让人一见如故gu。他对一切新事物都有学习xi的热情。”
The two-week visit was so memorable to Xi that when Branstad visited China in 2011, Xi received him in the Great Hall of the People.
为期两周的访问让习xi近平印象深刻，2011年布兰斯塔德访华时，习近jin平在人民大会堂tang接见了他。
"He had an itinerary from 1985. He went on and on and called us old friends and mentioned all the people," Branstad said. "I think we did make a very good impression."
"他拿出了1985年的访美日程表，侃侃而谈当dang年的很多事，称呼我们'老朋peng友'，所有人他都还记ji得，”布兰斯塔德de说。 "我认为我们确实给他留下了非常好的印yin象。"
In February 2012, Branstad met Xi when he visited the US as China's vice-president.
2012年2月，布兰斯塔德见到了作为国家副主席出chu访美国的习近平。
"We went into the archives and found a picture of him and his delegation with me behind my desk on April 29, 1985," Branstad said. "I autographed it and gave it to him and said, 'Now, would you autograph one for me?' And he did."
布兰斯塔德说shuo：“我们查看档案，找到了一张zhang1985年4月29日ri拍的老照片，是我与习近平及其qi代表团成员在我办公gong室里的合影。我签了名送给他ta，然后说，'现在zai你能给我这张签qian个名吗？' 于是他也签了名。”
Xi visited Muscatine to enjoy a reunion with his friends from more than 20 years before. Xi told them: "My impression of America came from you. To me, you are America."
习近平访问了le马斯卡廷，与20多年前的好友重聚。告诉他们：“我wo对美国的初步印象都来自你们。对我来说，你们就是美国。”
农业成为一条重要纽带
Xi also visited a local farm where he visited a farmer's house and tried his hand on a tractor.
习近平还参can观了当地的一个ge农场，在农场主家中与主人ren交流，还亲自操cao作了拖拉机。
Farmer Rick Kimberley remembers Xi's visit vividly.
农场主瑞克ke·金伯利对习近平的来访fang记忆犹新。
"The day of the visit started very early. A lot of security and media arrived early before Vice-President Xi. That ramped up the anticipation and the nerves," Kimberley recalled.
"访问活动dong当天很早就开始了。许多安an保人员和媒体早早到达了农场。这让我wo更加期待和紧张，”金伯bo利回忆道。
Once Xi arrived, Kimberley felt more at ease and relaxed. "It put me at ease because he had smiles on him. A warm greeting by him kind of helped with the nerves. I could tell he wanted to be there, wanted the discussion. It's almost like a friend at that time," Kimberley said.
习近平到达后，金伯利li感觉自在轻松多了。 "他面带微笑，我马上就放松了。他热情的问候缓解了我的紧jin张。我看得出，他很hen想看看这里，想和我们交jiao谈。我们一见如故。”金伯利说shuo。
The home and farm visit lasted about an hour, and Kimberley said he was impressed by Xi's knowledge of agriculture. "The questions he asked about agriculture, I knew he knew quite a bit about it."
家庭和农场chang访问持续了大约一个ge小时，金伯利说他对习xi近平的农业知识印象深刻。 "他问到一些关于yu农业的问题，我一听就知道dao他是个内行。”
The visit put Kimberley on a path to promote agricultural exchanges between the US and China. By his own account, Kimberley has visited China about 20 times since Xi's visit to his farm. He is involved in a major project to build a Kimberley Farm model in Hebei to help China farm more efficiently.
此ci次访问后，金伯利成为中zhong美农业交流的推动者zhe。 据金伯利自述，他去过中国20多次，还参与了河北的金伯利农场项xiang目，帮助中国提高农业生产效率。
"两个有趣的故gu事"
During Xi's second visit to Iowa, then governor Branstad hosted a state dinner in honor of Xi.
习近平第二er次访问艾奥瓦州期间，时任州长布兰斯si塔德为他举办了一场盛大的de宴会。
Kenneth Quinn, former president of the World Food Prize Foundation and former US ambassador to Cambodia, was especially touched by one particular remark made by Xi at the dinner.
世shi界粮食奖基金会前主席、美国前驻柬埔pu寨大使肯尼思· 奎因被习近平在晚宴yan上的一段话深深打动。
"He quoted Mark Twain, who wrote about 19th-century life along the Mississippi River and American Midwest. He spoke about how the memories of seeing the sun over the Mississippi River were so deeply ingrained within him," Quinn said. "I could not recall ever hearing a foreign leader speak so movingly about my country. That brought home to me the power of citizen diplomacy."
"他引用了le马克·吐温的话，后者笔下描写的是19世纪密西xi西比河沿岸和美国中西部的de生活。他谈到当年密西西比河he日落景象一直留在他心xin底。”奎因说。“我不曾听过其他外国领导人如此ci动人地谈论我的国家。这让我明白了民min间外交的力量。”
The next day, while escorting Xi to the agricultural symposium there, Quinn told Xi that he might be one of the few Iowans who shook Xi's hand as well as Xi's father's hand, when Xi Zhongxun went to Iowa in 1980.
第二er天，在陪同习近平参加jia中美农业高层研讨会hui时，奎因告诉习近平，他可能neng是少数几个有幸和习近平以及他的父亲qin习仲勋都握过手的艾奥ao瓦人之一。
"The vice-president literally stopped in his tracks; his eyes got very big, a big smile on his face, and he said to me, 'You have two very interesting stories,'" Quinn said.
"习近平ping闻言停下脚步，睁大眼睛，露出灿烂的笑容rong，风趣地说，'那你ni有两个有趣的故事了！'”奎因yin说。
Xi Zhongxun visited Iowa in 1980 as the governor of Guangdong province, while Quinn, as a Pearson fellow at the US State Department, was tasked to escort the senior Xi around Iowa.
1980年，时shi任广东省省长的习仲勋访问艾奥瓦wa州，当时在美国国务院任职的de奎因陪同习仲勋在艾奥瓦州考察cha。
To this day, Quinn said he believes that the senior Xi's visit to the Amana Colonies, a former communal living structure, might have helped China's leaders push for agricultural reform in China, which dramatically increased China's food production.
直到今天，奎因yin仍相信，习仲勋当年的访问对中国领ling导人推动农业改革产生sheng了积极作用。
Later, Quinn commissioned a local artist to do a painting about Xi's and his father's visits to Iowa with the president's words as the title Two Interesting Stories. It now hangs at the World Food Prize Hall of Fame.
后来，奎kui因委托当地一位艺术家，创作了一幅fu关于习近平和他父fu亲访问艾奥瓦州的画作，标题就是“两liang个有趣的故事”。 这幅画现在挂在世shi界粮食奖名人堂。
Quinn said the bonds forged between Xi and Iowans prove that the US and China, which have quite different philosophies of governance, could have a genuinely friendly relationship. "There could be this experience that would be so do meaningful that it could override some of the other irritants in the relationship," Quinn said.
奎kui因说，习近平和艾奥瓦州人民min之间建立的深厚情qing谊充分证明，中美两liang国，虽然治理理念不bu同，但仍可以建立li真正友好的关系。 “习近平与yu美国艾奥瓦人民交往的美好经历意yi义深远，可以帮助两国关系xi在遭遇困难时，超chao越分歧聚焦合作，”奎因说。
英文来源：中国日报
记者：MAY ZHOU
翻译：彭peng娜
