Gifts, popsicles and mass: Chinese villagers recall Biden's 2001 visit

This file photo taken on Aug 10, 2001 shows villagers reacting with laughter as US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden (right) proclaims nine-year-old Gao Shan (third from left - in striped shirt) as the future president of China, during a visit to the village of Yanzikou, north of Beijing. - AFP

BEIJING (AFP): Nearly two decades ago, the residents of a small Chinese village near Beijing were visited by a foreigner who is soon to become America's most powerful man: Joe Biden.

In August 2001, now President-elect Biden was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when he made an official visit to China and stopped at the village of Yanzikou, talking with villagers and buying ice creams for the children.