Tan Zhenzhen,

34, foreign tourism board, Beijing

What’s the first thing you think of about the US?

The Statue of Liberty, of course.

Do you think China and the US know each other’s culture and ways of thinking?

I think there’s still a lack of mutual understanding between the Chinese and US public about each other’s culture and ways of thinking. But in intellectual circles, like scholars and politicians, mutual understanding goes much deeper. When I come across American tourists in Europe and the US, they still talk to me about China in the days of Chairman Mao.

What is the first thing you think of about the Sino-us relationship? Why?

I immediately think of the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in [former] Yugoslavia in 1999. Back then, I was still in high school. The whole class would watch Xinwen Lianbo [China Central Television’s flagship daily news program] together every night. I can still remember the anger on my classmates’ face when we saw the news. The teacher then gave us a writing assignment to do about the incident. Our politics teacher even guessed that we would be required to write about China-us relations during the upcoming national college entrance examinations.

How do you think American President Donald Trump will deal with the SinoUS relationship? Why?

I don’t think Trump knows how to handle the relationship with China. He relies on think tanks for suggestions. When he fails to find the right solution to something, he tends to resort to showy moves that aren’t significant to the issue. For example, his daughter [Ivanka Trump] went to a reception at the Chinese Embassy [in Washington, DC] for Spring Festival with [her] child who can even speak Chinese. Occasionally, he makes friendly overtures, but there are also times when he talks very tough.