Nixon Library reopens to highlight world-changing encounter

Stepping through an iconic moon gate, visitors to the newly renovated Nixon Library can relive the historic handshake between Richard Nixon and Premier Zhou Enlai during the president's 1972 visit to China. They also can explore the relationship between the United States and China of more than 40 years ago.

The China exhibit - named The Week that Changed the World - is among the most important exhibits at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, which reopened on Friday in Yorba Linda, California, after a $15 million overhaul.

Nixon was the first US president to visit China, where Chinese and US leaders announced a desire for normalized relations after 25 years of separation.

On prominent display at the library are the life-size, bronze-plated statures of Nixon and Zhou extending their hands to each other against the background of a nearly 5-meter-tall image of Air Force One, which touched down in Beijing on Feb. 21, 1972.

Christopher Cox, Nixon's grandson, said the statues were his favorite.

"That spirit of 1972 is something so important for us to carry forward as we consider relationships between the US and China in the 21st century," he said.

The exhibit also features text, images, and artifacts, and a special gift for the president - sets of ping-pong paddles with "A Generation of Peace" printed on them.

The reopening and normalization of China-US relations changed the political and economic landscape in the Asia-Pacific region and in the world, heralding the end of the Cold War, said Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai, who addressed the attendees.

China and the US share the responsibility to maintain international peace and promote world prosperity, he said. "The choices we make today will have far-reaching impact on the well-being of our peoples and the future of the world," he said.

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com