What is the political weight of Diaoyutai guesthouse where Putin is staying?

What is the political weight of Diaoyutai guesthouse where Putin is staying?More than 1,400 heads of state have stayed in the compound, with the Russian president usually accommodated in its most prestigious villa2-MIN READ2-MIN0ListenPublished: 3:00pm, 20 May 2026Updated: 3:52pm, 20 May 2026When Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday evening for a two-day state visit, he once again returned to his “second home” at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, a royal garden that has hosted heavyweights including Richard Nixon, Boris Yeltsin and Kim Jong-un.Diaoyutai is a familiar setting for Putin who has visited China more than 20 times and personally met President Xi Jinping on more than 40 occasions since 2013, according to state news agency Xinhua. He usually resides in Villa 18, the most prestigious of its buildings.WATCH: China-Russia presidential summitDiaoyutai was once a key arena for US-China relations. It was here, in Villa 5, that then secretary of state Henry Kissinger stayed during his 1971 secret mission to bridge the gap between the two countries.