took a break Thursday to revel in an evening of music, one of their shared passions, AP reported. ``There aren't many leaders who understand both the intricacies of global finance and the intricacies of Beijing opera, and who voice both blunt political views and blunt musical opinions,'' Clinton said, toasting the premier at an official White House dinner.
Clinton teased Zhu about the premier's admission that Western opera puts him to sleep.
``I hope Yo-Yo Ma understands the pressure on him!'' Clinton said.
The renowned cellist performed for the two leaders and more than 200 dinner guests in an East Room decorated in red and gold.
Zhu charmed the audience with his unabashed candor. He never actually took a nap, the premier insisted through a translator, but he often wanted to.
The premier also admitted ``he felt he couldn't move his legs'' after shaking hands with everyone in the receiving line. ``I'm already 70 years old, not as young as President Clinton,'' he said.
``He has a great sense of humor,'' said Rev. Billy Graham, an old friend of Zhu's who attended the dinner. ``I think he has turned China around.''
Prominent corporate leaders -- from the head of America Online to the president of the Motion Picture Association of America-- warmly greeted the premier. Guests said it was important to focus on where alliances could grow despite varied tensions clouding the meeting between the two leaders.
``I think we can't overlook the most important issues or get bogged down,'' said novelist Amy Tan.
Figure skating champion Michelle Kwan , noted AIDS researcher David Ho and filmmaker Joan Chen were among the other guests. Ma said the evening's selections celebrated transnational themes -- and the power that music has to overcome differences between cultures and nations.
``We think of China and the United States as being countries that are far apart,'' Ma said, as he warmed up for his evening performance. But in music, the countries ``are not that far away.'' Accompanied by pianist Sara Wolfensohn and Wu Man, who plays an ancient four-stringed lute called the pipa, Ma highlighted the variety in the evening's repertoire -- from George Gershwin's Three Preludes to a finale of Le Grand Tango by Astor Piazzolla.
Composer Bright Sheng specially arranged three songs in honor of the event, and Ma said the pieces reflected folks tunes that Sheng himself heard while growing up in Shanghai, interlaced with Sheng's U.S. training under Leonard Bernstein.
``What is fabulous are the results that can happen when you have influences from one place and another coming together,'' Ma said. ``To get into any art form, you have just one requirement -- you have to start from the inside.''
Indeed, Clinton and Zhu talked quite a lot about music during the premier's visit, said White House social secretary Capricia Marshall. Like Clinton, the Chinese leader enjoys listening to music and on occasion, takes up an instrument himself -- a Chinese version of the dulcimer.
The president presented Zhu with an American-style dulcimer, handcrafted from Mountain View, Ark., as his official gift. First lady Hillary Clinton, noting the fondness of Zhu's wife, Madame Lao An, for flowers, picked out a set of four stained glass panels designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright as her gift.
In return, the premier and his wife brought for the first family a giant sketch of the president, first lady and daughter Chelsea at the Great Wall, set in a cherry wood frame.
The East Room gave out a red glow as Ronald Reagan base plates, featuring a red border, lay on rose dante damask tablecloths. Vermeil flatware and gold candlesticks surrounded the table flower arrangements of Icelandic poppies, Raphaela roses and parrot tulips.
White House chef Walter Scheib prepared a dinner that both celebrated the arrival of spring and the premier's fondness for fresh vegetables. More than 20 vegetables, including such unusual finds as bayou asparagus, peppered the menu.
``It's a great time of year to be a chef,'' Scheib said.
A roasted salmon, dark enough to be accompanied by a red wine, and grilled chicken with vidalia onion glaze headlined the dinner.
The sumptuous feast also featured some specialties from abroad. The kitchen imported Chinese truffles, and dessert chef Roland Mesnier prepared an orange sherbet and tea parfait with tea brought by a friend from China. Glazed kumquat tartlettes, and miniature mango puddings -- a favorite in China -- rounded out the evening's sweets.
The dinner was given official status because Zhu is not China's head of state.
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