Xi Jinping is adding a new mane man to his stable of advisers.
The Chinese president is the proud new owner of a Turkmen racehorse, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency. On Monday, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov gave Mr. Xi the horse, an Akhal-Teke, a Turkmen breed known for exceptional speed and endurance, as a gift of friendship during his four-day visit to Beijing. The visit was intended to boost the natural gas trade between the two countries.
The gift has historic resonances. Former presidents Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin were also given Turkmen horses on similar occasions, which currently reside in China’s presidential stable at the Hanxue Baoma Breeding Center in China’s northern city of Tianjin, the same home that also awaits Mr. Xi’s new stallion.
It’s also believed that if leaders ride the horse, they’ll follow the path of one of China’s bravest emperors Li Shimin, who ruled from 626 to 649AD and was known to ride the breed. The emperor led China into one of its most famous, celebrated and culturally rich eras, that of the Tang dynasty. In China, affection for such horses traces back still further in history to around 113 BC, when the emperor at the time was so intrigued on hearing reports about such horses from his ambassadors that he apparently went to war with his neighbors, in part to try and bring some back for his own court. (He succeeded, and dubbed the steeds he brought back “heavenly” horses.)
via China’s President Gets a ‘Heavenly’ New Pony – China Real Time Report – WSJ.
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