MR JON Huntsman, widely viewed as one of the most colourful and accessible American ambassadors to China, thinks nothing of hopping onto his Shanghai-built 'Forever' brand bicycle to roam the hutongs of Beijing.
A polished Mandarin-speaker, he banters with locals with ease over breakfast at streetside stalls.
The 50-year-old envoy credits Singapore for helping him build up his street cred.
'I know my food, I'm a street food guy - I was trained in Singapore,' declared Mr Huntsman, whose diplomatic masterstrokes have included connecting with locals through his love of Asian food.
In 1992, he made headlines as the youngest-ever United States ambassador to Singapore at the age of 32. He was an instant hit at his first press conference, speaking in Mandarin and raving about his beloved morning fix of dou jiang (soya bean milk) and you tiao (deep fried dough sticks) from Chinatown.
In Beijing 18 years later, he still heads to the streetside hawkers for his favourite breakfast. His adopted daughters, Gracie Mei, 11, from China, and Asha, four, from India, sometimes accompany him on his rides through the city.
In the 11 months since he arrived in Beijing, Mr Huntsman has covered a lot of new ground, big and small. These include a trip with Gracie Mei to her remote Yangzhou village, to the complexities of engaging with the vast and fast-changing country that is China.
Speaking of the burgeoning scope of US-China relations, Mr Huntsman notes that it has undergone a major turning point.
'We're entering new territory here where neither side has ever gone before,' he told The Straits Times last Thursday at his office located north-east of the Forbidden City. He gave this interview ahead of his speech delivered on Monday at the FutureChina Global Forum held in Singapore, where he was one of the key speakers.
The two powers are 'deep in dialogue' on a wide range of issues, from the global economy to climate change and energy.
'These are all issues that were not part of our bilateral engagement in earlier years,' he said. 'But what marks our relationship today that is quite new and extraordinary is the range of issues that we cover together that go well beyond the bilateral into the global.'
Mr Huntsman may appreciate this evolution better than most, having followed this bilateral relationship since its inception in July 1971, with the establishment of formal diplomatic ties.
At the time, the young Mr Huntsman, then 11, found himself clued into the diplomatic groundwork that paved the way for this historic breakthrough. He had accompanied his father, who was an aide to then President Richard Nixon, to the White House.
While there, he was asked to carry Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's briefcase to a car. When he asked Dr Kissinger where he was going, he was told: 'Please don't tell anyone. I'm going to China.'
Mr Huntsman's childhood fascination with China took him to Taiwan for two years as a Mormon missionary, where he learnt Mandarin and the Hokkien dialect.
In 1984, he made his first visit to China as a member of the advance team preparing for then President Ronald Reagan's visit there and met paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.
He has been back many times since. As deputy US trade representative from 2001 to 2004, he grappled with nettlesome trade disputes over cheap Chinese exports flooding the US market.
But even for a seasoned hand, Mr Huntsman's first winter as ambassador to China was an unequivocably 'turbulent period', marked by disputes such as American arms sales to Taiwan and President Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama.
Those were 'very difficult, dark days', said the diplomat, whose signature Mandarin phrase 'I will learn from you' and mastery of the art of 'giving face' never fail to impress Chinese press and crowds.
But, Mr Huntsman added, 'the question is always how you manage your way through these cycles and how you even out those extremes'.
True enough, 'an extraordinary recovery' kicked in. Around March, both sides came to the realisation that they needed to find common ground and ways of getting along, he recalled.
There was simply too much at stake. 'We relied too much on each other from an economic and trade standpoint,' Mr Huntsman said.
President Hu Jintao's acceptance of Mr Obama's invitation to attend the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in April marked a significant turning point in the relationship.
'The bilateral meeting went not for 60 minutes but for 90 minutes - and neither side pulled out the perfunctory talking points but spoke as friends,' said the ambassador.
This 'wide-ranging discussion... went a long way in mending the relationship'.
The momentum has since picked up. China's recent decision to join the US in reining in Iran's nuclear programme was cited as 'a good example of collaboration between the two sides'.
Another issue to watch is the South China Sea, which has been a source of territorial disputes between China and other Asian countries.
Beijing officially elevated it to one of its 'core interests' of sovereignty, on a par with Tibet and Taiwan this year, according to reports.
China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea and South-east Asia has prompted Asian leaders like Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew to urge President Obama to step up America's presence in the region in order to 'strike a balance' with the Chinese.
Asked if the US would scale up its presence in the region, Mr Huntsman reiterated the stand that the United States is a 'Pacific power'.
'We care deeply about the free flow of goods and commerce, in other words, keeping the sea lanes open for the free flow of trade.'
The US' significant naval presence has been 'an insurance policy' to ensure stability in the region, he noted.
Mr Huntsman noted that Mr Lee's 'voice registering concerns coming out of South-east Asia is a helpful reminder that South-east Asia is and will always be important to the interests of the US'.
'I can see a future in the years to come, where our engagement will only ramp up, based upon what our needs are as a country and the growing needs of Asean,' he said.
For the present, he is focused on protecting American interests in China. This includes creating jobs for people in the US, where the unemployment rates are 'unacceptably high'.
He noted that China is rebalancing its economy towards a more consumer-based model - and 'that will be good for the US'.
'It will allow for exports to be kicked up, perhaps in an unprecedented way, resulting in greater job creation in the US.'
While some may see this as a political soundbite for a rising star tipped as a potential Republican candidate for the 2016 presidential race, Mr Huntsman does not mince his words when it comes to helping the folks back home: 'From a personal standpoint... every day I'm very mindful of creating jobs, in an enhanced economic relationship with China.'
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