President Joe Biden plans to rely on historic California luxury as he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping. The meeting is set to take place at an extravagant estate that could impress even a leader whose rule has no term limits.
Biden says he hopes his talks with his Chinese counterpart on Wednesday will “change relations for the better” after heated arguments over the Chinese spy balloon and concerns about Beijing’s close embrace of Moscow despite Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine.
After months of delicate diplomacy, the two men plan to meet on a 1,500-acre estate on the peninsula below San Francisco, Voice of America reported.
According to Voice of America, President Joe Biden will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Filoli estate
The property spans 654 acres and includes five “distinct ecosystems.”
The grounds of the Filoli estate include five “distinct ecosystems,” hiking trails, an orchard, sequoia groves and natural springs – exactly the kind of lush environment that might cause a world leader to shy away from corporate espionage and consider invading Taiwan or repatriating it the import duties.
The Georgian Revival-style mansion has a total area of 54,000 square feet.
The house was built in 1917 and opened to the public in 1975.
According to reports, the US and China have already agreed on a gradual move. Beijing has pledged to reduce production of fentanyl, which is poisoning Americans and contributing to social collapse on the streets of San Francisco, just blocks from the APEC summit.
The White House has kept the location of the summit top secret, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan only told reporters on Monday that the summit would be held in the Bay Area.
The Filoli website says it will be closed November 13-15 “as we deck the halls for the holidays!”
The Georgian Revival-style mansion has a total area of 54,000 square feet
The house is located in Woodside on the peninsula near San Francisco
The house was built in 1917 and opened to the public in 1975
Around 400,000 people toured the house in 2021 and 2022, a significant increase from the total of around 200,000 in 2018 and 2019
This week, the Filoli estate will host no tourists but a high-level meeting between Biden and Xi
The gardens surrounding the Filoli estate are 16 miles long in total and feature a 1 mile path
Filoli has a country house and extensive estate as well as a formal garden
The Filoli website states that it will be closed November 13-15 while we deck the halls for the holidays
With American and Chinese flags flying, people watch as the motorcade carrying President Joe Biden passes by in San Francisco on Tuesday
The Biden and Xi administrations had already taken steps toward a meeting before the spy balloon incident
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife Jennifer greeted Biden as he landed in San Francisco
Event director Helen Dubuc denied on Tuesday that a summit would be held there.
“They don’t come here,” she told . “I would know: I am the event manager.”
The facility includes a 56-room mansion and grounds with plenty of distance from protesters who have lined the streets of San Francisco and even erupted outside the White House and Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, amid Israel’s war on Hamas.
It dates back to 1917 and was built by mining and oil baron William Bourn and his wife Agnes. It features large oil paintings, Palladian windows, taxidermy, and a wood-paneled room with an ornate fireplace.
Today it belongs to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
But the landscape is also a symbol of tremors and collapse. Parts of the country straddle the San Andreas Fault, where the American Plate has been rubbing against the Pacific Plate for millions of years, sometimes causing catastrophic earthquakes.
According to the website, the Bourns survived an earthquake within the first month of moving in.