No one really knew much about the young Chinese official who stayed in the nondescript suburban house in 1985.
It wasn’t until Xi Jinping returned as vice president in 2012 that the small community of Muscatine, in eastern Iowa, realized its special place in US-China relations.
Now Gary Dvorchak, whose bed was used by the future Chinese president all those years ago, has bought back his old family home with a plan to use it to improve relations between the two nuclear superpowers.
“The China-US relationship should be better than it is,” he told DailyMail.com. “It has to be better than it is.”
When Iowan Republicans head to the caucuses on Monday to choose their preferred 2024 candidate, the idea of Beijing as Washington’s enemy will ring in their ears.
Xi Jinping (far right) was head of Hebei Shikiazhuang Prefecture’s corn processing delegation in 1985 when he visited Muscatine. He is seen here with his hosts Tom and Eleanor Dvochak (center and second from right) outside their home
Today the house looks like any other middle-class home on the street, albeit with Chinese artifacts and photos of Xi and other dignitaries.
On Wednesday, just 150 miles away from Dvorchak’s home, Republican candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley used China as a line of attack against each other.
DeSantis harks back to Haley’s time as governor of South Carolina, a time when states across the country were eager to bring in Chinese investment.
‘She wrote a love letter to the ambassador, saying they were a good friend. On video she says: “China is a friend,” he said.
The house at 2911 Bonnie Drive has sometimes charted the course of that relationship. It was bought in 2013 by a Chinese businessman who hoped to benefit from growing trade between the world’s two largest economies.
It played host to occasional Chinese delegations and people hoping to learn more about the country at small concerts or displays.
But the election of Donald Trump changed the situation. When Dvorchak opened negotiations to buy it back three years ago, the house told a story of soured relations: the paint was peeling on the deck and the entire house needed a dose of TLC.
“It’s my childhood home, it has historical significance, if you want to call it that, and it looked shitty,” he admitted.
He lowered an inflated asking price to $250,000, about normal market value for the three bedrooms, basement and yard.
Today it looks no different to the other single-family homes in the quiet residential street.
In a sign of improving relations, Xi met with Biden outside San Francisco last year. In a speech, he described fond memories of a visit to 2911 Bonnie Drive in Muscatine
Gary Dvorchak bought back his old family home last year for $250,000 and plans to turn it into a museum designed to celebrate Xi’s visit and improve US-China relations
In 1985, Dvorchak’s bedroom featured a green fluffy carpet and Star Trek posters
Xi sent a thank-you letter to his friends in Muscatine after returning as vice president in 2012
Gary Dvorchak was in college when Xi visited. Last year he bought back his family home for $250,000 and plans to use it to foster better relationships
Only as guests climb the entrance stairs inside does the story at the heart of U.S.-China ties become clear.
Visitors are greeted by a two-foot-wide statue of Chinese President Xi Jinping as a 32-year-old leading Hebei Shikiazhuang Prefecture’s corn-processing delegation on a 12-day visit to rural Iowa.
They toured farms and production facilities as they researched American food production systems.
They were bewildered at times. After driving along a four-lane highway, one of the delegations wondered how they would ever turn around and go back.
And Xi slept in Dvorchak’s bedroom after his parents volunteered to host three of the visitors while their two sons were at university.
Dvorchak may have been away, but his room would have provided something of a culture shock. It was decorated in a teenage style, with a green fluffy carpet, Star Trek posters, Star Wars models and cartoons of football players.
“It was quite horrible at the time,” he admitted.
He was barely aware that three Chinese guests were staying at his home.
It was not until 2012, when Xi returned to the US as vice president and specifically requested a visit to Iowa, that the memories were revived.
Aerial view of the house in Muscatine, a city in eastern Iowa with a population of about 24,000
Chinese characters fill a red visitors’ book kept in the house, recording guests’ thoughts
Chinese gifts share the mantel with an American flag and more photos
The house is filled with photos of visits to the house and memorabilia
‘My mother called me and she said: do you remember those Chinese people who stayed in our house? And I said, No,’ he said.
“And she says, neither can I, but one of them will be the president!”
His return reflects the times and the idea that China and the US can do business. “Xi visits Iowa, where the diplomatic equivalent of love is in the air,” the Washington Post said.
Dvorchak’s green stack is long gone. A neutral cream-colored carpet runs through the rooms. And a new bed, with an oriental pomegranate and flame theme, fills the room.
A red visitors book, decorated with Chinese characters, takes pride of place in what would have been the dining room. And there is a tea set on the coffee table.
Dvorchak has big plans after buying the house back for $250,000 last year.
“Our vision is to really use it to run it as a nonprofit, and make it a positive presence in an otherwise very negative relationship,” he said.
He has an ally at the top of the Chinese government.
When Xi visited San Francisco last year in a sign of slowly warming ties, he spoke about the Dvorchaks and the importance of people-to-people contacts.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held talks with former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley on Wednesday in Des Moines, Iowa. They clashed over who was toughest on China
Daniel Stein, a local businessman who shows visitors around the house, said: “Just blowing each other up won’t solve anything.”
“I still remember their address: 2911 Bonnie Drive,” he said in a set speech.
‘That was my first face-to-face contact with the Americans. The days I spent with them are unforgettable.’
Dvorchak, head of an investor relations firm in Beijing, and other old friends from Muscatine were invited to meet Xi during that visit.
He said he planned to avoid tough policy questions and use the house as a museum, with exhibits designed to help American visitors better understand China, and to provide an alternative view to the dominant perception of the country .
According to Pew Research, 83 percent of Americans surveyed last year had a negative view of China — a 10-point jump from 2022.
Election year makes everything more difficult, said Daniel Stein, a local businessman who shows visitors through the house.
He said he was accused of being pro-China and that neighbors probably thought the address was some kind of spy den.
“Just completely blowing each other up won’t solve anything,” he said. “I think you should try to talk and if the US and China can find stable relations, everything else will become easier for the rest of the world.”