By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY

　　BEIJING — The number of Americans living in China has reached a historic high of 110,000. They are teachers, hairdressers, diplomats, travelers, students and business fat cats. There's even a bluegrass banjo player and singer who is scheduled to perform in Mandarin here Friday night.

　　What kind of advice about dealing with the Chinese can American expatriates pass along to President Bush, who comes through Saturday night for a state visit?

　　Take a long-term view, they say. Ensure your expectations are realistic. Show respect by soaking in some Chinese history. Dealing with the Chinese is a contact sport, so work on relationships — but have fun.

　　Some insights from Americans who have built a life in China:

　　Persistence pays off

　　When author Peter Hessler moved from Columbia, Mo., to a small town on the Yangtze River town as a Peace Corps volunteer teacher in 1996, he says he saw signs everywhere that said "No Foreigners Allowed" and even "Prepare for War" — relics of an era of deep mistrust between China and the rest of the world. He says he didn't feel like "a representative of America, but had to accept I was seen as that."

　　He found that the key to finding acceptance was mastering the Chinese language. That opened up a society that was, in fact, curious about the outside world after decades of isolation. He found out that America and China have a lot in common.

　　"The longer I live here, the more similarities I see between the USA and China," says Hessler, 36, whose book River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze was published by HarperCollins in 2001. "Besides the similarity in (geographical) size, there's no single language or ethnic group, so it's amazing that China works, and the U.S., too."

　　He adds, "These are two incredibly powerful cultures that have attracted other peoples."

　　Hessler encourages other Americans here to study Chinese because it shows respect for the culture. He also notes that today more people are studying English in China than speaking it in the USA.

　　His next book, Oracle Bones, due in April, will explore Chinese-U.S. themes.

　　His advice: Be persistent.

　　"I learned the need to be patient, persistent and not easily intimidated," he says.

　　Patience is profitable

　　Businessman Peter Zenello, 48, learned the hard way about the importance of communication. "When I arrived to study in 1984, China really was a hardship tour. The Chinese were afraid to sit down and talk to you," he says.

　　Zenello, from Plymouth, Mass., finally found language partners in a public park near the imperial lakes of Beijing, where toothless old men paraded their caged birds and sang opera. Today the Shichahai neighborhood is a bustlin