Edited by Chu Yang and David L. Bandurski of the China Media Project The highlight of official state media discourse in May 2023 was the inaugural China-Central Asia Summit, during which Xi Jinping hosted leaders from five Central Asian nations, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. The summit formally opened in the city of Xi’an on May 18 with a grand event hosted at Tang Paradise, a theme park featuring monumental new constructions inspired by the architectural forms of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), when Xi’an, then Chang’an (长安), was an imperial capital.