There were training shots before Putin's arrival in Beijing

Beijing is preparing to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will arrive in the People's Republic of China (PRC) at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. On May 19, the Izvestia correspondent visited the local tea market, where the famous diplomatic tea is served, and tasted local delicacies — dried insects.

"We are now [located] in the largest tea market in Beijing. We are looking for a very rare variety. Longjing is called "ceremonial" or "diplomatic" tea. It is served at official ceremonies. Each leaf is processed manually," said Izvestia correspondent Nikolai Ivanov.

After tasting the drink, Ivanov positively described its taste. According to him, tea is very tasty, rich and tart.

The journalist's next destination was a local cafe, where you can see colorful food on the counter — seaweed, baked roots, soaked mushrooms, as well as dried insects. As he emphasized, this is also a type of Asian cuisine on a par with the beloved bubble tea and sushi, although even for locals such dishes are quite exotic.

"It's a centipede and a scorpion. They promised that they were non-poisonous. <...> It's delicious, it looks like sunflower seeds, honestly. We'll find out soon whether the sting was pulled out of the scorpion or not," Ivanov joked.

The Izvestia correspondent, commenting on the upcoming trip of the Russian leader to China, noted that there is complete mutual understanding between Moscow and Beijing. This, he said, was largely due to the personal friendship between Xi Jinping and Putin, who, in turn, has already visited China more than 20 times. Each such event represented a new point of growth in interstate relations, Ivanov noted.

At the highest levels: Putin and Xi will agree on the establishment of a multipolar world

Who else went to China with the president, and is this rather short trip related to Trump's recent visit to China?

The Kremlin announced on May 16 that Putin would pay an official visit to China on May 19 and 20 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Russian delegation, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, will include relevant deputy prime ministers, ministers, as well as representatives of both public and private companies that cooperate with China. He said that Moscow has serious expectations from the upcoming visit.

After a while, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov pointed out that the foreign policy positions of Russia and China coincide on many issues. He stressed that these countries are increasing their partnership in the United Nations, BRICS and other international organizations, and also act as important trading partners for each other.