Last Updated on September 24, 2026 by Jeff Tomas
BEIJING – In 1985, an agricultural delegation from Hebei Province in northern China visited Muscatine, Iowa. Its leader, Xi Jinping—now China’s president—stayed with a local family. One of his memories from that trip was a simple breakfast of bacon and eggs.
“You were the first group of Americans I came into contact with,” Xi later told his Iowa friends. “To me, you are America.”
41 years later, I met Gary Dvorchak in Beijing. When Xi visited, Gary was away, but his parents welcomed the young Chinese official into their home and gave him Gary’s bedroom. Decades later, Gary has made Beijing his home for 13 years. So when I asked him about his favorite breakfast, his answer surprised me: tomato and scrambled eggs, a distinctly Chinese dish.
Today’s headlines often frame US-China relations as a binary, zero-sum rivalry—a forced choice between bacon and eggs or tomato and eggs, debating which culture or system is superior. But must these two dishes battle it out in an arena, or can they share the same dining table?
The connection, however, has continued across the decades. Every Spring Festival – China’s most important holiday – letters cross the Pacific from Beijing to Iowa. In a response to his Iowa friends this past February, President Xi noted that his warm memories from 41 years ago remain vivid, emphasizing that the hope of the China-U.S. relationship lies in the people, its foundation is in grassroots connections, its future depends on the youth, and its vitality comes from subnational exchanges.
Reflecting on his family’s legacy—including turning his childhood home at 2911 Bonnie Drive into the “Sino-US Friendship House” museum—Gary emphasized the necessity of face-to-face interaction:
“I think it’s incredibly important to have people come here and meet each other, and the same for Chinese young people to go to America and see what it’s really like. The more we have of that, the more people can understand each other as human beings, rather than the caricatures presented in the media.”
That kind of exchange is already reaching thousands of young people. Since the launch of an initiative to invite 50,000 American young people to China over five years, more than 40,000 have taken part, according to China’s Ministry of Education. The program has given them an opportunity to experience China firsthand and created another bridge between people in the two countries.
I have seen the same spirit among American students studying at Beijing Language and Culture University. Students from different academic and professional backgrounds eagerly practice their Mandarin pronunciation with every “ni hao” and “xiexie.” One student even built a following of over 50,000 on Chinese social media by posting humorous videos about cross-cultural communication with his Chinese girlfriend, using his real-life experiences to teach English.
The same principle can apply beyond education and cultural exchange. Gary now works in cross-border AI investment, a field often discussed through the language of competition. But he sees another side of the story: technological progress can also come through interaction, investment and cooperation across borders.
He points to developments in China, from factory automation to humanoid robotics, as examples of innovation that can create opportunities for businesses on both sides. Technology can create more possibilities when companies look for areas where they can complement each other rather than simply compete.
“The infrastructure and support here for innovation and development are fantastic. And you can see the results. China has a rapidly growing AI industry, from infrastructure companies like DeepSeek to consumer products such as AI devices, biotech applications and robots, as well as companies like Unitree that are going public. All of this is a result of the strong environment here for developing new technologies. That’s why China has been so successful — it has created such a supportive environment for innovation.”
As technology advances, our options expand. AI should not render bacon and eggs and tomato and eggs mutually exclusive. Instead, it offers new ways to refine both to suit diverse tastes. Perhaps the point is not to decide which breakfast belongs on the table. There may be room for both.
In fact, I might just head to the kitchen and order some bacon, eggs, and tomatoes to see how they taste cooked together.
Keyu Guo is a journalist covering China’s changing social landscape, including public policy, international relations, social development, and emerging trends in society.
