The recent Xi-Trump summit in Beijing was a masterclass in diplomatic theatre, with both leaders using cultural symbolism to convey their messages and shape the narrative of their relationship.
The visit began with a formal meeting at the Great Hall of the People, where the two leaders discussed key issues such as the Iran conflict, the war in Ukraine, and the Korean Peninsula.
However, the more interesting story of the visit was told outside the meeting room, where Trump and Xi paid a cultural visit to the Temple of Heaven in Southern Beijing.
Built in the early 15th century, the temple is China's most complete surviving imperial religious complex, and its most recognizable structure, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, rises in three tiers of blue-glazed tiles above a marble platform.
The visit to the Temple of Heaven was a pointed setting for a visit in which American agricultural exports were expected to matter, and it allowed a hard bargaining issue - farm purchases - to be translated into an older symbolic language of harvest that spoke to both domestic and international audiences.
Trump's visit was not the first American statesman to be brought to the Temple of Heaven, as Henry Kissinger had also visited the temple in 1971 on his famous secret mission to re-open the door between the US and China.
The visit also moved into a more familiar register: food, sports, and popular culture, with a state dinner that honored both Chinese culinary prestige and American preferences, and Trump's references to Chinese workers who helped build America's railroads, Chinese enthusiasm for basketball, and the presence of Chinese restaurants across the US.
The main lesson of all this symbolism is that, in US-China relations, atmosphere has never been secondary, and diplomatic theatre can shape the mood in which rivalries are managed, and the stories that leaders tell their public about what the relationship means.
