The choice of hotel for Lien Chan's Kuomintang delegation has five-star significance.

It is here, at the 105-year-old Beijing Hotel on Chang'an Avenue in the heart of the capital, that KMT founders and leaders have checked in over the decades.

The hotel is a stone's throw from Tian'anmen Square and the portrait of Dr Sun Yat-sen, who is among celebrated past guests.

Yesterday, chambermaids and porters were changing the greenery in the lobby and busy dusting the 15th,16th and 17th floors ready for Lien Chan and his delegation.

On Tian'anmen Square, workers could be seen touching up the giant portrait of the doctor, who stayed in room 101 in December 1924. His wife, Madame Soong Ching Ling, stayed in room 1637 during January to September of 1976.

Lien's room number is unknown. But he is scheduled to hold a press conference in the hotel today after his meeting with General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Hu Jintao.

Southwest to the square is the Laoshe Teahouse, whose creation was inspired by the work of the famed playwright Laoshe. Here, last night, Lien and his entourage were treated to a brewing experience amid the old city of Beijing.

"We are so honoured and excited to have Mr Lien as our guest," said General Manager Yin Zhijun of the teahouse before the latest VIP visit. Since its opening in 1988, Laoshe has played host to over 2 million tea sippers, including George Bush senior and also about 20,000 Taiwan compatriots.

Among the choice teas served for Lien Chan were some of China's most cherished brands, such as Giant Buddha Longjing, Jasmine Tea, and Pu'er.

The snacks on offer were also carefully selected: date paste, miniature wotou buns and "donkeys doing somersault on the ground," the nickname for a native Beijing pastry dipped in tasty morsels of flour.

The small theatre inside the tearoom reverberated to Peking Opera highlights. Palace dance numbers were played on the single-string zither called danxian. All the while, waiters dressed in short traditional garb and waitresses in cheongsam scurried around pouring fine teas out of extended kettle spouts and hollering words of welcome and order-taking with such a fervour to warrant an opera in itself.

History looks down from walls, with facial makeups of General Zhang Fei and Prime Minister Cao Cao from the Three-Kingdom Era (AD 220-280) whose stern looks belied the hospitality of the hosts. The four stone lions that guard the gate had just received a thorough scrubbing and the clay figurines the size of a thumb that stood on shelves were newly polished.

As if the sights and sounds of old Beijing were not enough to capture the imagination of Lien's party, the host bequeathed a bronze tea set as a parting present.

"I'm sure they found a feeling of home here," said Yin.

Like Yin Zhijun, the mainland press is also giving Lien Chan the royal treatment. Many newspapers have been devoting several pages each day to this history-making trip, recounting every detail, both significant and trivial.

Even Lien's two sons were hounded by paparazzi. The elder son, Lien Sheng-wen, is the subject of tabloid news because of his rumoured entanglement with a popular television hostess.

Lien rejected questions of this nature while walking up the steps of Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing on Wednesday, saying that it would be blasphemous to talk about this kind of thing in such a sacred place.

China Central Television (CCTV), known for its gravitas intentions, is also awarding the trip blanket coverage. On Wednesday's news talk show, it featured two journalists from Taiwan who dwelt in length upon Lien Chan's change of public persona, from that of an aristocrat born with a silver spoon in his mouth to someone who has learned to mingle with and talk to the ordinary people.

Another CCTV programme even interviewed the Nanjing chauffeur who drove Lien and his wife in his black Mercedes-Benz 600. All he could say was Lien did not talk much during the ride but looked out of the window a lot.

Like many watching their TV sets, perhaps Lien was glued to history in the making.

(China Daily 04/29/2005 page5)