A McDonalds in a residential neighborhood, Beijing

While Americans have been screaming “de-couple" from China, and frantically trying to keep anything Chinese, from EVs, solar panels to cranes, from reaching American shores, I noticed on a recent trip back to China the same xenophobic fanaticism does not, thankfully, seem to have been reciprocated there. American products are easily visible if you look for them, like this small McDonalds in a residential neighborhood in eastern Beijing, near the Central Business District (CBD) where I stayed.

A 7-11 store in the same neighborhood

This 7-11 store, smaller than most of their counterparts in the U. S., has a loudspeaker at the store front blasting items on sale. This type of advertising, common in China, is rare in America. While I could not figure out what stuff from the store was on sale, the logo, like those of the McDonalds restaurants, was unmistakenly American.

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, downtown Beijing

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception sits quietly in downtown Beijing, not far from Tiananmen Square. The oldest Catholic church in Beijing, dating back to 1605, is not, er, American but was initially built by the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci. Still the Baroque style building with its cross on top, walled in with Chinese style houses, testifies to the centuries old Sino-Western cross-cultural exchanges.

St Josephs Church, downtown Beijing

The second oldest Catholic Church in Beijing, St. Josephs, on the same street with Beijings trendiest shopping street, Wangfujing, attracts the faithful as well as curious shoppers like myself - yes, it is a functioning church and I saw a mass with my own eyes when I visited. This church, likely also built by Europeans instead of Americans, with its Romanesque Revival architecture, should also remind many Americans of home.