- The Temple of Heaven projects China’s imperial legitimacy.
- Xi chooses a historical scene rich in cultural symbolism.
- The US president hopes for more crop purchases from China.
Chinese emperors once prayed for bumper crops under the blue-tiled, triple roof of Beijing’s prayer hall for good harvests, in sacred rituals that confirmed their mandate to rule.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will walk the same imperial grounds at Beijing’s Temple of Heaven as both leaders seek a different kind of harvest from a high-stakes summit.
For Xi, hosting Trump there offers a stage rich with messages about China’s endurance and civilizational depth. For Trump, the option has a more literal resonance: agriculture will be high on his priority list, with American farmers looking for greater Chinese purchases of soybeans, other crops — and meat.
“As a Chinese leader, this is the perfect backdrop to show the depth of Chinese history and how long it is, how sophisticated it is,” said Lars Ulrik Thom, a Beijing-based historian and founder of historical walking tour company Beijing Postcards.
Trump is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday ahead of his meetings on Thursday and Friday. According to the White House, the two leaders will visit the Temple of Heaven on Thursday.
Trump is going to China with his ambitions blunted by court rulings on tariffs, narrowing his goals to a few deals on beans, beef and Boeing jets and enlisting China’s help in resolving his unpopular Iran war, analysts say.
Xi could stand in for pompous Trump
In 2017, Xi and his wife gave Trump and the first lady a rare private tour of the Forbidden City, the ancient home of China’s emperors.
Analysts are watching to see if Xi, who goes into the talks projecting more confidence than Trump, will once again pull out all the stops for the mercurial US leader known for his love of pomp and pageantry.
The temple, located about 7 km south of the Forbidden City, was built in 1420 under the same Ming emperor who was responsible for the construction of the Imperial Palace.
Surrounded by ancient pines and cypresses, it is today a popular tourist spot and a park where Beijingers practice tai chi, play chess or dance.
Under dynastic rule, once a year emperors would go from the Forbidden City to the Temple of Heaven, with a retinue of thousands of men and elephant chariots, to perform a religious ceremony confirming their right to rule.
That right was not unconditional: bad harvests, famine or disorder could reflect badly on an emperor’s position.
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the temple’s best-known landmark, was rebuilt in the late 1800s with tall redwood imported from the United States, Thom said.
American farmers want China to buy more of their crops
After the tour, Trump will seek to obtain greater commitments from Xi on purchases of soybeans, grains and meat.
China is the top market for American farmers, taking about $24 billion of their goods by 2024, before Trump took office. Beijing has frozen much of that trade and reduced its need for US supplies, using it as powerful leverage against Trump’s tariffs.
Soybean farmers will be watching to see how China meets last year’s commitment to buy 25 million tons of soybeans annually through 2028. Greater Chinese purchases could appease distressed U.S. farmers, who are among Trump’s biggest voters, ahead of November’s midterm elections.
For Xi, the place offers more than imperial scenery.
“It’s a very good backdrop to tell Donald Trump and the world that China is here and has been here for thousands of years,” Thom said.
