The high-stakes summit in Beijing between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will take place at a religious complex where Chinese emperors once prayed for good harvests.
The historical setting for the first summit in nearly a decade between the American and Chinese presidents has been chosen carefully as two leaders meet for diplomatic negotiations they hope will bring peace and stability to their bilateral relation.
Surrounded by ancient pine and cypress trees, the Temple of Heaven is located some 7km (4.35 miles) south of the Forbidden City, the ancient home of China’s emperors, where Mr Xi and his wife gave Mr Trump and the first lady a rare private tour during their last summit in 2017.
Today, the temple is a popular tourist site and a park where the locals practice tai chi, play chess or dance.
But the 15th-century religious complex once symbolised the emperor’s “Mandate of Heaven” – the ancient Chinese belief that a ruler’s authority came from divine approval. Emperors were seen as the link between heaven and earth, and rituals at the Temple of Heaven were meant to demonstrate that harmony. The temple was used by Chinese emperors to perform annual ceremonies praying for good harvests, peace and stability for the empire.
During his stay, Mr Trump is due to visit the centuries-old temple and the heavily guarded headquarters of China’s ruling Communist Party, Zhongnanhai, about which little is publicly known.
Mr Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday and has meetings on Thursday and Friday. A bilateral meeting with Mr Xi is scheduled for 10.15am, followed by a state banquet at 6pm Beijing time on Thursday.
The temple is a Unesco heritage site and an imperial religious complex in Beijing built during the Ming dynasty.
"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.
During imperial rule, Chinese emperors travelled once a year from the Forbidden City to the Temple of Heaven in grand processions involving thousands of attendants and elephant-drawn carriages to perform ceremonies praying for good harvests and reaffirming their mandate to rule.
But that authority was seen as conditional. Famine, poor harvests, or unrest were traditionally viewed as signs that an emperor had lost divine favour.
The Hall of Prayer for good harvests, the temple complex’s most recognisable structure, was rebuilt in the late 19th century using towering redwood imported from the US, according to Mr Thom.
The temple was believed to be the favourite destination of former US secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, in China and he visited the site more than a dozen times.
"It's a very good backdrop to telling Donald Trump and the world that China's here and has been here for thousands of years," said Mr Thom.
On Tuesday, the Temple of Heaven park administration said the site will remain shut to the public between 13-14 May and visitors who have already bought a ticket would be refunded.
While the talks between the two leaders remain unpredictable, the summits themselves are meticulously choreographed, with every step carefully timed – including the moment when Mr Xi descended the 39 red-carpeted steps outside Great Hall of the People to formally welcome Mr Trump in 2017.
But beyond the symbolism of the venues, attention will also turn to the carefully curated state banquet that forms a key part of summit diplomacy in China.
Though the official state banquet menu has not been fully released or widely detailed yet in public but food diplomacy has long been used in China, where state banquets and carefully chosen dishes are often intended to convey hospitality, symbolism and political messaging.
The chefs understand that they would have to meet the head of state halfway on the plate by serving 50 per cent Western and 50 per cent Chinese dishes.
Chef Shi Jun, a veteran Chinese chef and master of Huaiyang cuisine from Hangzhou, told the South China Morning post said the food should also be a “middle ground” for the guest and the host.
With his more than three decades of culinary experience specialising in Huaiyang cooking – one of China’s four main cuisines said that if he were to make a dish for Mr Trump it would be clear-braised crab roe ‘lion’s head’ meatball.
“It’s soft, tender, fragrant and melts in the mouth. No heavy chewing required, and no need to face a whole animal. That might be a good start,” said the chef who cooked for world leaders, including Barack Obama, during the 2016 G20 summit in Hangzhou.
When Mr Trump visited Beijing during his first term in 2017, the menu included seafood chowder, kung pao chicken, stewed beef steak in tomato sauce, braised vegetables in premium broth, and grouper fillets in hot chili oil.
The Chinese side ensured that it included some version of Mr Trump’s favourite food – a steak with ketchup – alongside local dishes.
It was a lot less exciting than what Richard Nixon was served in 1972 when he became the first sitting US president to visit China for a week-long trip that was seen as the most significant diplomatic breakthrough of the Cold War.
Nixon was served egg-drop soup with bamboo fungus, shark’s fin soup with shredded ingredients, prawns prepared two ways, steamed chicken with coconut and almond junket dessert, in a banquet that lasted around three hours and included Chinese folk music alongside American songs such as Home on the Range and America the Beautiful.
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