U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday will walk the same imperial ground within Beijing's Temple of Heaven, as both leaders seek a different kind of harvest from a high-stakes summit. For Xi, hosting Trump there offers a stage rich in messages about China's endurance and civilisational depth. For Trump, the setting carries a more literal resonance: agriculture will be high on his list of priorities, with U.S. farmers looking for bigger Chinese purchases of soybeans, other crops -- and meat.
"As a Chinese leader, this is the perfect backdrop to show the depth of Chinese history and how long it is, how sophisticated it is," said Lars Ulrik Thom, a Beijing-based historian and founder of historical walking tour company Beijing Postcards.
