The words travelled along Dongda Street with the speed of sound: Laile! Laile! (He is coming). For several hours people had lined the elegant boulevard in central Xi'an, waiting for a once-in-a-lifetime glimpse of a United States President.
It was after 10 p.m. before President Clinton came by on his way to his hotel, three hours after Air Force One had touched down in a city which usually retires at 9 p.m.
Thousands of citizens who had been standing three deep or promenading with their children in the stifling heat, burst into warm applause as the presidential limousine drove slowly by. They were rewarded with a clear view of Mr Clinton, his wife, Hillary, and daughter, Chelsea, in the illuminated interior. They continued to clap and cheer the limousines carrying US Secretary of State, Ms Madeline Albright, Treasury Secretary, Mr Robert Rubin, and several other cabinet members.
It was a good night to be American in Xi'an. Several people shook my hand and said "Welcome", thinking I was from the US.
Despite the controversy surrounding the visit, there is no doubt that it is warmly welcomed by ordinary Chinese people. This was a rare spontaneous reception: there were no police, no bussed-in work units, no officials handing out flags.
Earlier, the President was officially welcomed by the mayor, Mr Feng Xuchu, and presented with a golden key to the city which was capital of China for over a 1,000 years between 110 BC and AD 907. The ceremony featured dozens of courtiers emerging from clouds of dry ice, and actors dressed as warriors from the Tang-era (608917).
The symbolism was not lost on the visitors - that China was mighty once, and can be great again. It was a theme Mr Clinton took up in his remarks. The ancient capital he said was "blessed with proud history and the promise of tomorrow". He eulogised the Tang Dynasty as a time when Xi'an was "perhaps the most open and culturally advanced in the entire world". Now he had come to see "the new nation you are building on a scale even the emperors could not have foreseen".
Hinting at human rights concerns he said pointedly that a new day was dawning for China in which "respect for the worth, freedom and integrity of every citizen is a vital ingredient for success". Among the watching crowds some people said they thought the visit of Mr Clinton would help relax the political atmosphere, while others took the chance to express anger at the Beijing government over hardship and unemployment. Today Mr Clinton will visit Xiahe village, a model of the village democracy, and visit the Terracotta army of Emperor Qin Shihuang (221-206 BC).