The visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Mamallapuram near Chennai renews the memory of the people of a nearby village to the visit by the erstwhile Premier of China, Zhou Enlai, in December 1956. The village known as Kuzhipanthandalam (कुलिपांतांडलम), some 15 kilometres off Mamallapuram, has witnessed the Chinese leader inaugurating a newly-built health centre.

The villagers who have witnessed the event then, say, Mr Zhou called it a model village, as it had the facilities of those days, a radio set as a community asset, a health facility and proper road connectivity to the nearby town of Mamallapuram.

The villagers further say, those days, security arrangements were to the bare minimum, as the situation then is vastly different from today.

Mr Zhou had also visited the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai in 1956 and has written in the visitors’ book that it has many things for his countrymen to visit and learn of the best practices.

Mr Xi Jinping would be the second leader to visit Mamallapuram, after Mr Zhou, reviving the traditional links between the ancient port town of India and China.