Obama, as seen in China (16 images)

Two Chinese vendors show off their U.S. President Barack Obama commemorative plates on sale at an outdoor market in Beijing April 10, 2009. In China, ObamaÕs victory has attracted particular curiosity because his emergence is such a thoroughly un-Chinese phenomenon. Political prodigies are rare in a nation that grooms top leaders through decades of CommunistParty vetting and pageantry. (UPI Photo/Stephen Shaver)

Chinese news kiosks advertise the front page of a popular, international men's magazine, the Chinese edition of Men's Health, featuring U.S. President Barack Obama as its man of the year on the streets of Beijing on November 11, 2009. UPI/Stephen Shaver

A Chinese traffic warden works in front of a shopping center showing world news, featuring a story on U.S. President Barack Obama, in downtown Beijing on July 15, 2010. Chinese President Hu Jintao last month reaffirmed the importance of developing China-US relations, saying that closer ties contributes to peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia Pacific region and the world. UPI/Stephen Shaver

A Chinese salesperson displays a t-shirt featuring President Barack Obama's face replacing China's former helmsman Mao Zedong's face in an iconic image of the Communist Party, at a clothing shop in Beijing on October 30, 2009. The shirt is called "Oba Mao". China's capital is gearing up for Obama's visit in less than three weeks. UPI/Stephen Shaver