Photo: Weibo

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who arrived in Beijing on Saturday evening, did not wait long to get a bite of genuine Sichuan cuisine. Yellen is currently on a six-day China visit lasting through April 9.

According to media reports, Yellen went directly to a Sichuan restaurant in Dongcheng district to sample her favorite kind of Chinese food.

Staff at the restaurant gifted their American guest Sichuan embroidery, a noted part of China's intangible cultural heritage. In return, Yellen offered souvenir coins bearing her name.

According to the US media, Yellen used to be a regular at a Sichuan restaurant while teaching at Berkeley.

During her visit to the restaurant in Beijing, the American official enjoyed classic Sichuan cuisine including boiled beef and mapo tofu.

Previously, Yellen had also enjoyed Cantonese food for her first dinner after landing in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province on Thursday. That meal involved a selection of iconic dishes including roast goose, chilled sweet and sour pork, crispy tofu, and an assortment of Cantonese dim sum.

"We welcome more American officials to taste Chinese cuisine and experience traditional Chinese culture. We also hope that while American officials understand Chinese cuisine, they can deepen their understanding of China and its people, and respect the development rights of the Chinese people," one Chinese netizen commented on Sunday.

Welcoming American officials to taste Chinese cuisine does not equate to accepting sanctions and restrictions; what would truly improve China-US relations would be concrete actions from the US, others wrote.

Global Times