Hu welcome dinner at Gates house, not White House
Posted on: Friday, 14 April 2006, 19:17 CDT
SEATTLE (Reuters) - The first lavish dinner of China President Hu Jintao's historic visit to the United States next week will be in a big, secure house in Washington where the host is one of the world's most powerful men.
The White House? No.
It won't be in Washington D.C., but Seattle, Washington, and the April 18 dinner will be held at the $100 million lakeside mansion of Microsoft Corp. founder and the world's richest man, Bill Gates.
The approximately 100-person guest list is a who's who of the U.S. Pacific Northwest power elite, including Starbucks Corp. Chairman Howard Schultz and Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire, said event organizers.
The guests will undergo strict security checks before entering Gates' lodge-style, 66,000 square-foot (6,130 sq meter) home overlooking Lake Washington with a reported seven bedrooms, six kitchens, 24 bathrooms, a domed library, a reception hall and an artificial estuary stocked with salmon and trout.
Gates and Gregoire are expected to introduce and welcome Hu, who will then offer a toast in front of the gathering.
The guests will be served a three-course dinner, starting with a smoked guinea fowl salad, a choice of either beef filet with Walla Walla onions or Alaskan halibut and spot prawns before a dessert of rhubarb brown butter almond cake, the event organizers said.
Like any good dinner guest, President Hu will not come empty handed. The Chinese government issued a decree two weeks ago that all PCs will need to have a licensed operating system software installed before leaving the factory gates in an effort to crack down on piracy.
As a result, three Chinese PC manufacturers announced plans to buy a total of over $400 million worth of Microsoft Windows operating system software over the next three years and Lenovo Group Ltd., China's largest PC maker, is expected to announce a similar deal on Monday, organizers said.
Source: REUTERS
Related Articles
- Healthcare Workers Sue SEIU for Violating Federal Law
- Education, Cheney Public Schools, Eastern Washington University, Reid Elementary School, School Closure
- Verizon Foundation Awards $111,900 in Grants to 15 Washington County Nonprofit Organizations
- Laid-Off G-P Millworkers Gather at Holiday Dinner
- WSU Breaks New Ground in Organics: Agriculture Degree First in Nation, School Says
- Altarum Adds Health Systems Research, Inc. To Organization
- Group Sets Aside Seattle-Area Land for Organic Farming
- China's Hu Turns Starbucks Promoter at Gates dinner
- EPA Head to Speak at Dinner: Organization Will Celebrate Its 2005 Accomplishments
- Gates Birthday Gift is the Kind That Will Keep on Giving
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds