Xi Jinping met Obama at the Annenberg Estate. (file photo)

    Beijing, Sept. 22 (Intern reporter Kai Ke/China Youth Online)— Today Chinese President departed for his first state visit to the United States. Welcoming him will be a real sleepless Seattle.
According to the Seattle Times, both Chinese and Chinese-Americans in Seattle take pride in the fact that President Xi sets the first stop of his visit in Seattle. They are eager to see this polite, powerful and new-style Chinese leader in person.
Allen, a Chinese student at the University of Washington Seattle Campus, said that he wished to be one of those Chinese students from UW welcoming President Xi at the airport. Both President Xi and the famous Chinese entrepreneurs among those who come with him are reasons why Allen was so excited to be part of the welcoming ceremony. He viewed this visit as an event that would open a new chapter for the Sino-US economic cooperation. The Seattle Times believed that Allen was also speaking on behalf of other Chinese and Chinese-Americans in Seattle and across the United States.
Asante is a publisher of Seattle Chinese Post and Northwest Asian Weekly and a member of the Welcoming Committee appointed by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee. “He is a new-style leader,” Asante said of President Xi.
The Seattle Times also described the Chinese dream as “an optimistic dream”. The report said that President Xi has been leading the Chinese people on a path towards the “revitalization of the Chinese nation”. “It is an appealing and powerful call,” commented Bob Kapp, former executive director of Washington State China Relations Council.
Nelson Dong, a Chinese-American lawyer, gave thumbs up to President Xi’s “people-friendliness” while feeling proud of her motherland. “In the past, some of us were really ashamed of mentioning China as our motherland. But when anyone asks us today if we are Chinese, we will proudly and loudly say ‘yes’,” she said.
The Seattle Times argued that President Xi’s visit to Seattle would “refurbish” Chinese people’s impression of the city, which has long associated with the movie Sleepless in Seattle. President Xi’s visit is expected to cut off the association and present Seattle in its own right to the Chinese people.