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Menu for Dinner Honoring Chinese Vice Premier Deng

This menu was created for a dinner hosted by President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter in honor of Vice Premier Xiaoping Deng of the People's Republic of China and his wife, Lin Zhuo, on January 29, 1979. The dinner was held in the State Dining Room. The vice premier was the highest-ranking Chinese visitor to the White House since Chiang Kai-shek visited in 1943. Among the dinner guests was former president Richard M. Nixon. it was the first time the former president had returned to the White House since his resignation in August 1974. After the dinner, guests attended a demonstration of American performing arts, organized by the National Council of US-China Trade. Performers at the event included the Robert Joffrey Ballet Company, singer and actress Shirley MacLaine, the cast from the Broadway show "Eubie," and singer-songwriter John Denver at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Harlem Globetrotters basketball team also made an appearance, as a special surprise for basketball enthusiast Deng. This menu is part of a personal collection belonging to former White House Executive Chef Henry Haller. As executive chef from 1966-1987, Haller oversaw dinners for many world leaders at the White House. This menu includes writing in both English and Chinese.
Artist
White House Calligraphy Office
Date of Work
January 29, 1979
Type
Document
Credit
Courtesy of Henry & Carole Haller and Family
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