At Biden's 'noodle diplomacy' eatery, Chinese eye warming US ties
On a 2011 visit, then US vice president Joe Biden went for lunch at Yaoji Chaogan, sparking a social media craze over his "noodle diplomacy".
Outside the eatery in one of the capital's historic hutong neighbourhoods this week, Chinese people expressed hope that a meeting between leader Xi Jinping and now President Biden might help the two men to cook up a diplomatic success of their own.
Biden and Xi will hold talks this week in San Francisco — their first in just over a year — set to address hot-button issues from trade to geopolitical tensions.
Near Beijing's 700-year-old Drum Tower, passersby told AFP the two leaders needed to learn to get along for the sake of the world.
The China-US relationship is «tense, you can see that», said economics student Yuan, who only offered her family name.
«But they're also very closely linked,» she added.
«These are two very large countries with huge global economic systems, so this is very important. Their relationship has a great impact on the entire world's economy.»
Outside the packed bistro — where steaming bowls of soup and buns offered a welcome respite from freezing weather outside — retired driver Yu said he welcomed the meeting between the rival powers' leaders and expressed a little admiration for the US president.
«It's definitely good,» he told AFP. «People certainly look forward to it.»
«Most of us older people in China have retired by now,» he said.
