As the world is witnessing mounting tensions between China and the United States in an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape, it becomes all the more necessary to explore and utilize alternative ways to mitigate the growing conflicts and reshape the contour of Sino-American relations in a creative and productive fashion. Fortunately, past historical experiences have accorded us such useful lessons. The three panelists, individually and collectively, will provide astute analyses of the “shared history” between China and the U.S. by dissecting how food, sports, and theater have served as cultural conduits in enhancing mutual understandings and accommodations in the midst of tensions and conflicts during different historical time periods.

Yong Chen’s paper focuses on the long journey of Chinese food that made its way into the mainstream American culinary culture from its initial racially-based rejection to gradual acceptance and eventual integration. The infusion of Chinese food into the broader American society, owing to the relentless efforts of many Chinese Americans, has effectively fostered the general understanding of Chinese culture while serving to democratize “dining out” as an exclusive experience of the rich and privileged.

Guoqi Xu’s paper centers on the Sino-American “shared history” by analyzing how sports often functioned as the “glue” in holding their tattered relations together. Aside from the well-known Ping-Pong Diplomacy in the early 1970s that contributed to the Beijing-Washington rapprochement during the Cold War, he also examines, with specific examples, the ways in which sports in general have facilitated the improvement of U.S.-China relations in an otherwise troubled state of affairs.

Zhaohui Hong and Cunfa Dong direct their scholarly inquiries into the intriguing success of the famed Chinese Peking Opera performer Mei Lanfang who led his theater troupe to the U.S. for a six-month-long visit in 1930, during which they captivated a large American audience and generated abundant interest and good will among the American public in several major cities. The presenters conclude that this success story bespeaks the power of the theater in exercising effective cultural diplomacy.