Muscatine, a tranquil city on the banks of the Mississippi River in the central US state of Iowa, has witnessed the nearly four-decade-long friendship between Xi and local residents.

In 1985, Xi, then a Chinese county official, visited the city. Sarah Lande received Xi. During his visit to the United States as China's vice-president in 2012, Xi revisited Muscatine and met his old friends in Lande's house.

"Even though it was raining, it was a glorious day in Muscatine," recalled DeWayne Hopkins, then mayor of Muscatine.

This short stopover displayed the power of people-to-people exchanges. Xi told his old friends, "You were the first group of Americans that I came into contact with. My impression of the country came from you."

"To me, you are America," Xi said.

Last year, when replying to a letter from Lande, Xi encouraged Lande and other old friends in Muscatine to continue sowing the seeds of friendship and making new contributions to the friendship between the two peoples.