Vice President Biden Hosts Dinner For China's Vice President Xi Jinping

Top Administration officials fete the next President of China at the Naval Observatory; the guest list and menu...
While President Obama was enjoying a quiet Valentine's Dinner with his wife on Wednesday night, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden were celebrating love bonds of a different kind: Those between the United States and China. The Second Couple hosted an elegant dinner at the Naval Observatory for Vice President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China, with Cabinet Secretaries and senior presidential advisors mingling with the Chinese Delegation. (Above: Biden offers a toast during the dinner)

The event was complete with a military cordon lining the long driveway for Xi's arrival and world class musical performances. In line to be the next President of China, Xi, 58, was feted with a three-course menu that replicated a formal dinner at the White House, where steak is always the star: Beef Tenderloin accompanied by Delaware Crab Cakes, a nod to the Bidens' homestate, and seasonal vegetables, regionally sourced. Dessert was a pear confection.

Dr. Biden was clad in a glittering sheath and the Vice President was in a dark suit as they welcomed the special guests, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Commerce Secretary John Bryson, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Ambassador to China Gary Locke, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, National Economic Council director Gene Sperling, and President Obama's top advisor, Valerie Jarrett, as well as the official delegation from the People's Republic of China (full list below).

Geithner and Panetta were seated at the Head Table with the Bidens and Xi. Centerpieces were red and pink roses in baskets, and the tablecloths were a muted red.

Xi's visit is the second of the planned reciprocal visits between the Vice Presidents announced by President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao during President Hu’s State Visit to Washington in 2011; Biden visited China last August. The dinner capped a day of meetings at the White House with the President and Vice President as well as stop at the Pentagon and the US Chamber of Commerce. In between, there was a State Department luncheon for 200 guests co-hosted by Secretary Clinton, featuring a menu by acclaimed Chinese American chef Ming Tsai. (Above: The two Vice Presidents in the Library before dinner)

Xi, a former agriculture representative for his nation, first visited America 1985, and his tour of the United States this week includes a stop in the small Iowa town where he spent time as a young communist party official. Then he'll visit California, accompanied by Biden.

Following dinner, guests were treated to a performance by award-winning violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Sam Haywood, who played three selections from Gershwin, Chopin and Pablo de Sarasate. (Above: The Bidens flank Xi in the front row, watching Bell perform)

Dinner Menu In Honor of Vice President Xi Jinping

Delaware Crab Cakes
Corn salad, Macho and Basil Tartar Sauce

Balsamic Marinated Beef Tenderloin
with balsamic shallot sauce
Wild Rice and Orzo Pilaf
Roasted Root Vegetables in Ancho Honey Glaze

Packed Pears with Tulle
Finer Pear Sorbet

The wine selections were American:

*Hall Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley 2010
*Hall Cabernet Sauvignon Nappy Valley 2009

Above: the Vice President and Dr. Biden greet Xi as he arrives.

The Full Guest List:

The Honorable Tony Blinken, Deputy Assistant to the President & National Security Advisor, Office of the Vice President

The Honorable Lael Brainard, Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, Department of the Treasury

The Honorable Stephen G. Breyer, Associate Justice, The Supreme Court

The Honorable John Bryson, Secretary, Department of Commerce

The Honorable William J. Burns, Deputy Secretary, Department of State

The Honorable Kurt M. Campbell, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, State Department

Madame Chen Naiqing, Spouse, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United States, The People's Republic of China

The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary, Department of State

His Excellency Cui Tiankai, Vice Foreign Minister, The People's Republic of China

Ms. Deng Ying, Deputy Director General of the Protocol Department of MFA, The People's Republic of China

The Honorable Tom E. Donilon, Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor, Office of the National Security Advisor

The Honorable Michael B. Froman, Assistant to the President and Deputy NSA for International Economic Affairs, National Security Council

His Excellency Gao Hucheng, China International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce, The People's Republic of China

The Honorable Timothy F. Geithner, Secretary, Department of the Treasury

His Excellency Han Changfu, Minister of Agriculture, The People's Republic of China

The Honorable Valerie Bowman Jarrett, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, White House

The Honorable Ron Kirk, U.S. Trade Representative, Office of the United States Trade Representative

The Honorable Gary Faye Locke, U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China

Mr. Lu Kang, Deputy Director General of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs of MFA, The People's Republic of China

Mr. Ma Jisheng, Deputy Director General of the Information Department of MFA, The People's Republic of China

The Honorable Leon Panetta, Secretary, Department of Defense

The Honorable Wendy Sherman, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, State Department

His Excellency Shi Zhihong, Vice Minister of Policy Research Office of CPC Central Committee, The People's Republic of China

The Honorable Gene Sperling, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the National Economic Council

The Honorable Tom Vilsack, Secretary, Department of Agriculture

Mr. Wang Qing, Deputy Director General of the Central Guard Bureau, The People's Republic of China

His Excellency Xi Jinping, Vice President, People's Republic of China

Mr. Xie Feng, Director-General of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs of the MFA, The People's Republic of China

His Excellency Yang Jiechi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, The People's Republic of China

His Excellency Yuan Guiren, Minister of Education, The People's Republic of China

His Excellency Zhang Xiaoqiang, Vice Chairman of NDRC, The People's Republic of China

His Excellency Zhang Yesui, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United States, The People's Republic of China

Mr. Zheng Yi, Political Counselor, The People's Republic of China

Mr. Zhong Shaojun, Secretary of the Vice President, The People's Republic of China

Mr. Zhou Xingbing, Security Secretary of the Vice President, The People's Republic of China

His Excellency Zhu Guangyao, Vice Minister of Finance, The People's Republic of China

Joshua Bell's bio provided by the Vice President's office:
Joshua Bell has enchanted audiences worldwide with his breathtaking virtuosity and tone of rare beauty, earning him the title “classical music superstar.” An Avery Fisher Prize recipient and Musical America’s 2010 Instrumentalist of the Year, Bell is the Academy of St Martin in the Fields’ newly named Music Director. Bell came to national attention at age 14 in his debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Most recently, he has recorded the sound track for Zhang Yimou’s World War II epic film Flowers of War, China’s largest film production. Bell performs on the 1713 ex Huberman Stradivarius.

Sam Haywood bio provided by the Vice President's office:
Sam Haywood is a critically acclaimed British pianist whose performances have thrilled audiences worldwide. He frequently collaborates with Joshua Bell. Haywood began playing the piano at age four, inspired by evenings listening to crackly LPs of Beethoven Sonatas with his grandmother. Following his success at age thirteen in the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, he received the Isserlis prize from the Royal Philharmonic Society and later studied with Paul Badura-Skoda, and at the Royal Academy of Music with the late Maria Curcio, a pupil of Artur Schnabel.

*White House photos by David Lienemann; arrival photo by pool

Vice President Biden, Secretary Clinton Host Luncheon For China's Vice President Xi Jinping

State Department fete for 200 guests: The toasts, Chef Ming Tasai's menu, and the guest list...
Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton co-hosted a luncheon at the State Department on Wednesday for Vice President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China. The visit from China's next president is the second of the planned reciprocal visits between the Vice Presidents announced by President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao during President Hu’s State Visit to Washington in 2011; Biden visited China last August. About 200 guests were invited to toast US-China relations in the State Department's ornate Benjamin Franklin Dining Room, decorated in reds and pinks in honor of both Valentine's Day and the Year of the Dragon. (Above: The two Vice Presidents; Dr. Henry Kissinger is at left)

“I hope we can match the extraordinary hospitality that the vice president showed me for four days in August,” Biden said. “The U.S. and china have much to do together…our relationship is literally going to help shape the 21st century."

2012 marks the 4oth anniversary of President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China, and Nixon's Secretary of State, Dr. Henry Kissinger, was seated with the two Vice Presidents and Secretary Clinton at the Head Table. The three-course menu was created by acclaimed Chinese American chef Ming Tsai, executive chef and owner of Blue Ginger restaurant in Wellesley, MA, and featured Alasakan Butterfish. Iron Horse Year of the Dragon Chinese Cuvée from California was served for the toasts. (Above: The Secretary and Vice Presidents toast)

Guests began their arrivals shortly after 12:37, and were entertained by a string quartet. Invitees included Chevron Chairman and CEO John Watson, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger, Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent, Georgetown President John DeGioia, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, former Senator Chris Dodd chair of the Motion Picture Association of America, Human Rights Watch Executive Director Ken Roth, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, NBC's Andrea Mitchell and her husband Alan Greenspan, US Sens. John Kerry, Max Baucus, Dianne Feinstein, Lindsey Graham, Carl Levin, Daniel Akaka, and John Kerry, and members of the Chinese delegation. The other guests were leaders in foreign policy, academia and business, cultural and media figures, and Administration officials, according to the Vice President's office.



Xi, 58, first visited the US in 1985 as a communist party agricultural official on an exchange program, and stayed in Iowa. He will visit there later this week, and continue on to Los Angeles, accompanied by Biden, where they will be hosted by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. On Wednesday afternoon, Xi visited the Pentagon and attended a meeting with Biden at the US Chamber of Commerce. In the evening, the Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden hosted a dinner for Xi at the Naval Observatory, also attended by Secretary Clinton, top Administration officials, and the Chinese Delegation.

For the luncheon, the eighteen tables, in addition to to the head table, were decorated in hot pink, red and gold hues. Each table had a center bouquet of red and pink roses and/or tulips, and three tall glass vases, each with a floating red candle. The wine and water glasses were rimmed with gold, and the menu at each plate was embossed with a gold eagle and a wax seal.

Luncheon Menu in Honor of Vice President Xi

Roasted Sweet Potato Soup
with a Crispy Duck Confit Roulade and Micro Greens

Soy Marinated Alaskan Butterfish
with black garlic sauce
Eight Treasured Rice Packet
with dried fruit and pork sausage
Gingered Swiss Chard

Flourless Bittersweet Chocolate Cake
with Cardamom Ice Cream

Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay 2008 was served during the lunch. The Iron Horse vineyard, located in northern California's Green Valley, has had its sparkling wines served at the White House during the past five Administrations, beginning with the historic Reagan-Gorbachev Summit Meetings. Vineyard co-owner Joy Sterling attended the luncheon. (Above: Xi's placesetting)

The Head Table...
Seated in the center of the head table: Vice President Xi on the left and Vice President Biden on the right. Seated to Xi's left was Kissinger, Friedman, and Watson. To the right of Biden: Iger, China's Minister of Agriculture Changfu Han, and Katzenberg. On the left end of the table: Sen. Graham, on the right side of the table: Sen. Baucus, Democrat from Montana and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Seated on the other side of the table from Biden and Xi from left to right were: Mitchell, Blankfein, Secretary Clinton, China's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jiechi Yang, Sen. Kerry, Kent and DeGioia.

Chef Ming Tsai's bio, provided by the Vice President's office:
Ming Tsai, a Chinese-American, was raised in Ohio where he grew up cooking alongside his mother and father at their family-owned restaurant. (Above: Ming at the luncheon with Joy Sterling)

After graduating from Yale University, Ming trained and worked in kitchens around the globe. In 1998, he opened the critically-acclaimed restaurant Blue Ginger in Wellesley, MA and went on to receive a James Beard Foundation Award. He also received an Emmy Award for the Food Network show he hosted, East Meets West with Ming Tsai and has authored four cookbooks. He is currently the host and executive producer of Simply Ming, an Emmy-nominated cooking show, is proud to serve as the national spokesperson for the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, and is a founding member of Chefs For Humanity.

*Top photo by David Lienemann/White House; others courtesy of Joy Sterling