Chinese President Xi Jinping receives a custom No 1 Lincoln Abes jersey that bears his name as he visits football players at Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington, September 23, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

Why President Xi chose to visit Lincoln High School

Xi invited 100 Lincoln students to visit China next year, according to the Seattle Times. "You will know China better, and hopefully you will fall in love with China," he said.

Xi also brought both books and ping-pong balls and tables as gifts. 

He had visited the Lincoln High School in Tacoma in 1993 when he was the Party Chief of Fuzhou, the capital of East China's Fujian province, and helped establish a sister-city relationship between Fuzhou and Tacoma.