A state banquet, selfies with Musk and Huang's noodle run: The spectacle of Trump's Beijing visit

BEIJING, CHINA - MAY 14: U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People on May 14, 2026 in Beijing, China. Alex Wong | News | As the leaders of the world's two most powerful economies rekindled personal ties in Beijing on Thursday and Friday, with a cavalcade of American business leaders accompanying U.S. President Donald Trump , the Chinese capital turned into something of a spectacle. The visit — the first by a sitting U.S. president to China in nearly a decade — was full of friendly overtures, closely orchestrated pageantry, business dealmaking, and headline-grabbing sideshows that captivated audiences on both sides of the Pacific. Beijing deployed its diplomatic arsenal to the full. It laid on brass bands and flower-waving schoolchildren at the airport, a state banquet at the Great Hall of the People, a private tour of the Temple of Heaven, and a closing garden stroll at Zhongnanhai - the walled compound where China's top leaders have worked and lived since 1949 - during which Chinese President Xi Jinping offered Trump rose seeds as a parting gift. "There were unusually long handshakes, back-patting, smiling, and synchronized walking during public appearances," said Lyle Morris, senior fellow for foreign policy and national security at the Asia Society Policy Institute. "The interaction was warmer and more relaxed than some previous Trump-Xi encounters," Morris said. …