For his first state visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Moscow last weekend to highlight the importance of his country's relationship with Russia.
But according to Chinese Communist Party officials and intellectuals, Xi's fixation on Russia's former regime — the Soviet Union — may prove even more crucial to China's future.
The shadow of the USSR still hangs over many parts of Chinese society. What is considered bygone Cold War history by much of the rest of the world — even by many in Russia — lives on in China. You see it in the hulking Soviet-style buildings that dominate Beijing and in songs such as "Troika" and "Moscow Nights," which remain favorites among party leaders and choir clubs in Chinese parks.