20 years on - New York

Consul General of China in New York Zhang Qiyue speaks at an event celebrating the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China on Sunday at Foley Square. Zhang Ruinan / For China Daily

Two systems, two decades - San Francisco

Luo Linquan (center), consul general at the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, offers a toast to distinguished guests and diplomats at a gathering on Wednesday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the China motherland. Thanks to the "one country, two systems" policy, Hong Kong has remained as vigorous, vibrant, stable and prosperous over the past two decades as it has been in the past, Luo said. Ren Faqiang / For China Daily

Official recognition - Houston

Alice Chen (right), Asian liaison for Congressman Al Green, presents a certificate on behalf of Green to Yu Jianyi of the Chinese Times, organizer of the Water Cube Cup Chinese Songs Contest for Overseas Chinese in the southern US on June 24. A total of 21 finalists competed for an opportunity to go to Beijing for the grand final competition. Hu Quansheng / For China Daily

Literacy race - Chicago

Hong Lei, consul general of China in Chicago, poses with a team from Peking University that is joining the Chicago Chinatown Chamber of Commerce's 17th Annual Chicago Dragon Boat Race for Literacy on June 24 at Ping Tom Memorial Park. Provided to China Daily

Job well done - Gaithersburg, Maryland

Dong Shen (left), president of the Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association - USA (CBA), and Xu-Rong Jiang (second from left), past president of CBA, present an achievement award to Craig Venter (second from right), co-founder and executive chairman of Human Longevity Inc., at the CBA annual conference in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on Sunday. Dong Leshuo / China Daily

Image is all? - Washington

From left: Richard Wike, director of global attitude research at the Pew Research Center; Shadi Hamid, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; Constanze Steizenmuller, senior fellow at the Brookings; Ely Ratner, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; and Tarun Chhabra, visiting fellow at the Brookings, discuss the US' global image, including its implications for China, at the Brookings Institution on Tuesday. Chen Weihua / China Daily

Silk hats - San Francisco

Simon Kelly (second from left), curator of the new exhibition Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade, discusses aspects of life in Paris as refl ected in Degas' paintings, especially high-fashion hats and the women who created them. More than 40 impressionist artworks and 40 examples of period hats are on display through Sept 24 at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco. Silk from China played an important role in the fashion of the period. Lia Zhu / China Daily

New beginning - Greenfield, IN

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb (left) presents a gift to Qing Han, deputy general manager of Shougang Corp, at the groundbreaking ceremony of Beijing West Industries (BWI)'s first manufacturing facility in the US in Greenfield, Indiana on Wednesday. BWI, a joint venture of Shougang Corp and Beijing Fangshan State-Owned Asset Management, will invest more than $80 million to build and equip the 274,369-square-foot manufacturing facility and create about 450 jobs in the years to come. Dong Leshuo / China Daily

(China Daily USA 06/30/2017 page13)