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.
多年来厚植的情谊让艾奥瓦州人民成为中国国家主席习近平口中的“老朋友"。从前州长、大使到当地农场主，艾奥瓦州人民深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·布兰斯塔德在1985年和2012年习近平两度访问艾奥瓦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.
在最近举行的中美农业高层研讨会中，布兰斯塔德讲述了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.
布兰斯塔德1983年首次出任艾奥瓦州州长，该州当年即与中国河北省结成友好州省关系。1984年，作为州长的布兰斯塔德带领一个50人的访问团访问河北省。
"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，习近平作为河北省正定县委书记率领一个五人代表团访问艾奥瓦州。我们在河北时受到了款待，所以我们也热情迎接，精心安排了这次接待活动。”布兰斯塔德回忆道。 他说，他们安排代表团参加了一个生日聚会，品尝了烧烤，并参观了密西西比河。
“对我来说，你们就是美国”
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通老百姓的生活，于是当地安排他在马斯卡廷一户居民家住了两晚。
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委员会委员萨拉·兰蒂夫人的安排下，习近平住在房东儿子的卧室里。当时，房东德沃切克夫妇的儿子盖伊·德沃切克正在外地上大学。
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饭，看着她为了做饭去邻居家拿食材。
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，兰蒂对习近平的印象是："聪明、好奇心强、彬彬有礼、有趣和友好，他的笑容真诚，让人一见如故。他对一切新事物都有学习的热情。”
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近平印象深刻，2011年布兰斯塔德访华时，习近平在人民大会堂接见了他。
"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，侃侃而谈当年的很多事，称呼我们'老朋友'，所有人他都还记得，”布兰斯塔德说。 "我认为我们确实给他留下了非常好的印象。"
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：“我们查看档案，找到了一张1985年4月29日拍的老照片，是我与习近平及其代表团成员在我办公室里的合影。我签了名送给他，然后说，'现在你能给我这张签个名吗？' 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."
习近平访问了马斯卡廷，与20多年前的好友重聚。告诉他们：“我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.
习近平还参观了当地的一个农场，在农场主家中与主人交流，还亲自操作了拖拉机。
Farmer Rick Kimberley remembers Xi's visit vividly.
农场主瑞克·金伯利对习近平的来访记忆犹新。
"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.
"访问活动当天很早就开始了。许多安保人员和媒体早早到达了农场。这让我更加期待和紧张，”金伯利回忆道。
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张。我看得出，他很想看看这里，想和我们交谈。我们一见如故。”金伯利说。
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."
家庭和农场访问持续了大约一个小时，金伯利说他对习近平的农业知识印象深刻。 "他问到一些关于农业的问题，我一听就知道他是个内行。”
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.
此次访问后，金伯利成为中美农业交流的推动者。 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目，帮助中国提高农业生产效率。
"两个有趣的故事"
During Xi's second visit to Iowa, then governor Branstad hosted a state dinner in honor of Xi.
习近平第二次访问艾奥瓦州期间，时任州长布兰斯塔德为他举办了一场盛大的宴会。
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.
世界粮食奖基金会前主席、美国前驻柬埔寨大使肯尼思· 奎因被习近平在晚宴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."
"他引用了马克·吐温的话，后者笔下描写的是19世纪密西西比河沿岸和美国中西部的生活。他谈到当年密西西比河日落景象一直留在他心底。”奎因说。“我不曾听过其他外国领导人如此动人地谈论我的国家。这让我明白了民间外交的力量。”
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.
第二天，在陪同习近平参加中美农业高层研讨会时，奎因告诉习近平，他可能是少数几个有幸和习近平以及他的父亲习仲勋都握过手的艾奥瓦人之一。
"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.
"习近平闻言停下脚步，睁大眼睛，露出灿烂的笑容，风趣地说，'那你有两个有趣的故事了！'”奎因说。
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，时任广东省省长的习仲勋访问艾奥瓦州，当时在美国国务院任职的奎因陪同习仲勋在艾奥瓦州考察。
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，奎因仍相信，习仲勋当年的访问对中国领导人推动农业改革产生了积极作用。
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，奎因委托当地一位艺术家，创作了一幅关于习近平和他父亲访问艾奥瓦州的画作，标题就是“两个有趣的故事”。 这幅画现在挂在世界粮食奖名人堂。
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 meaningful that it could override some of the other irritants in the relationship," Quinn said.
奎因说，习近平和艾奥瓦州人民之间建立的深厚情谊充分证明，中美两国，虽然治理理念不同，但仍可以建立真正友好的关系。 “习近平与美国艾奥瓦人民交往的美好经历意义深远，可以帮助两国关系在遭遇困难时，超越分歧聚焦合作，”奎因说。
