A royal welcome at Buckingham Palace fit for a king greeted China's President Xi Jinping for the start of his four-day visit to Britain.
It was a royal, made-for-television affair, for the sake of prestige on both sides.
President Xi's visit is both symbolic and practical.
It is a show of trust in a golden future for China and Britain, as well as an opportunity to clinch more than 60 billion dollars' worth in trade deals.
The tour moved on to the Palace of Westminster for a rare address to both houses of parliament, a first for a Chinese president.
House of Commons Speaker John Bercow avoided a direct mention of human rights but pointed out the world would be watching the rise of the new superpower.
"We should all aspire to be seen not merely as a powerful force in the world, but as a moral inspiration to it."
In his speech, President Xi has chosen to focus on the commonalities between China and Britain: "It is fair to say that China and the UK are increasingly interdependent and becoming a community of shared interests."
It was a pleasant affair at Westminster, although not so straightforward when President Xi met the heir to the British throne -- famously, a friend of the Dalai Lama.
In the past, Prince Charles has called Chinese leaders "appalling old waxworks" over China's Tibet policies.
That was followed by another delicate meeting, this time with British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn.
His Labour Party says he did not shy away from raising human rights with President Xi.
Out on the streets, neither did Free Tibet activists.
Tsering Passang is chairman of the Tibetan Community UK.
"The issue of Tibet hasn't been forgotten. The political oppression, the abuse of human rights, the crackdown on religious freedom and freedom of speech in Tibet is not acceptable. And this is why we are here."
But supporters of the Chinese government answered the calls from their embassy.
They took to the streets by their thousands, straining to see their leader and trying to prevent him from seeing his critics protesting nearby.
President Xi's four-day visit will come to focus heavily on trade.
But that did not preclude a pomp-filled dinner with the Queen and 170 other guests in the grand dining room at Buckingham Palace.
