The Sino-US Friendship House in Muscatine, Iowa, offers a unique glimpse into international diplomacy and personal connections. This modest home is where China's now-President Xi Jinping stayed during his visit in 1985, when he was a county-level official leading an agricultural delegation around Iowa.
Now owned by the Dvorchak family, who hosted Xi in 1985, and operated as a non-profit museum, the house stands as a symbol of Chinese-American friendship. When Xi Jinping reunited with his “Old Friends” in Muscatine in 2013, he reflected on the warmth and hospitality he experienced on that first visit, telling the group “To me, you are America!”
Visitors can explore the home, which has been preserved to reflect the time of Xi’s stay, and learn about the cultural and agricultural exchanges that have flourished since then. The Friendship House is more than a museum; it represents the deep bonds and ongoing friendship between Muscatine and China.