Obama praises Chicago 'bravery'
Source: Agencies |
January 21, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
PRESIDENT Hu Jintao is brave to visit Chicago in January, United States President Barack Obama joked on Wednesday - the temperature is set to drop to minus 17 degrees Celsius today, with brutal winds.
Of all the garden spots in the US, why did Hu choose freezing Chicago, Obama's hometown, as the only city he'll visit outside of Washington DC on his brief American trip?
Local business and cultural experts say it was an easy choice. Under Mayor Richard Daley, Chicago has made sustained efforts to attract Chinese tourism and business, as well as promote Chicago business in China.
The city is also an educational center, with top schools such as the University of Chicago attracting Chinese students. The city has two "Chinatowns" and 12,000 school students are learning Chinese.
"Chicago has the most diverse economy in the nation, so pretty much what you want to find in America, you'll find in the Chicago metropolitan area," said Rita Athas, president of World Business Chicago, the city's economic development body.
Chicago has had a sister-city relationship with Shanghai and Shenyang since 1985. Daley has been a frequent visitor to China, most recently to the Shanghai World Expo last September.
Hu's trip will include a visit to Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, a public school and home of the first Confucius Institute, a cultural program, housed in a US elementary or high school.
Over 300 Chicago-area businesses have a presence in China, Athas noted, while China is a big buyer of Midwest crops, automobiles, steel, aerospace equipment and pharmaceuticals.
China also has an intense interest in Chicago culture, said Nancy Tom, head of Center for Asian Arts and Media at Columbia College in Chicago.
She organized the "Chicago Days" hip hop show at the Expo, which had the biggest turnout for any live performance at the US pavilion.
Besides hip hop, what do Chinese people think of first when they think of Chicago? Boeing? Soybeans? Dali Yang, political science professor at the University of Chicago and head of its Confucius Institute, says it's a former basketball star.
"The iconic image of Chicago in China is Michael Jordan," said Yang.
Of all the garden spots in the US, why did Hu choose freezing Chicago, Obama's hometown, as the only city he'll visit outside of Washington DC on his brief American trip?
Local business and cultural experts say it was an easy choice. Under Mayor Richard Daley, Chicago has made sustained efforts to attract Chinese tourism and business, as well as promote Chicago business in China.
The city is also an educational center, with top schools such as the University of Chicago attracting Chinese students. The city has two "Chinatowns" and 12,000 school students are learning Chinese.
"Chicago has the most diverse economy in the nation, so pretty much what you want to find in America, you'll find in the Chicago metropolitan area," said Rita Athas, president of World Business Chicago, the city's economic development body.
Chicago has had a sister-city relationship with Shanghai and Shenyang since 1985. Daley has been a frequent visitor to China, most recently to the Shanghai World Expo last September.
Hu's trip will include a visit to Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, a public school and home of the first Confucius Institute, a cultural program, housed in a US elementary or high school.
Over 300 Chicago-area businesses have a presence in China, Athas noted, while China is a big buyer of Midwest crops, automobiles, steel, aerospace equipment and pharmaceuticals.
China also has an intense interest in Chicago culture, said Nancy Tom, head of Center for Asian Arts and Media at Columbia College in Chicago.
She organized the "Chicago Days" hip hop show at the Expo, which had the biggest turnout for any live performance at the US pavilion.
Besides hip hop, what do Chinese people think of first when they think of Chicago? Boeing? Soybeans? Dali Yang, political science professor at the University of Chicago and head of its Confucius Institute, says it's a former basketball star.
"The iconic image of Chicago in China is Michael Jordan," said Yang.
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