He likes dancing and table tennis, and is said to have a photographic memory. But apart from small details, little is known about China's leader-in-waiting, Mr Hu Jintao, who arrives in the US today on his first major solo mission to the West.
Tipped to succeed the Chinese President, Mr Jiang Zemin, as Communist Party chief in September, and as President in spring of 2003, Mr Hu (59), is a mystery figure who has kept experts guessing about his personality and politics since he was anointed heir apparent 10 years ago.
Getting to know Mr Hu will be the single biggest US priority during his week-long visit, and is a task that President Bush is expected to pursue with relish.
Both men have a first hand opportunity to become acquainted during a scheduled meeting.
They first met in February when Mr Hu accompanied Mr Bush to Tsinghua University in Beijing during President Bush's visit to China. On that occasion Mr Hu was at his enigmatic best, and displayed little emotion during Mr Bush's speech. The pair only had the chance for small talk.
There are several questions US officials, and indeed the rest of the world, have in relation to Mr Hu.
How much of a social and political reformer he is, will he defend economic reform, and how far can he be pushed on Taiwan?
One US intelligence source was quoted as saying this week: "We've got the basics and that is about it. We are just starting to learn about Hu Jintao the leader and the big questions are all guesswork at this stage."
A study published by the Washington think-tank, the Heritage Foundation, portrays Mr Hu as a solid party man who is by turns ambitious yet highly capable, thoughtful yet tough.
Mr Hu's trip to the US, via Singapore and Malaysia, is the most significant move yet to boost his political credentials at home and overseas and to cement his position as the next leader of the world's most populous nation.
Now ranked fifth in the Communist Party hierarchy, he is the youngest member of the all-powerful, seven-member Politburo Standing Committee and also vice chairman of the Central Military Commission.
He was effectively appointed President Jiang's successor when the late paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping, promoted him to the Politburo Standing Committee in 1992. Prior to that he headed the party in Guizhou and then in Tibet, where in 1988-89 he quelled the largest of the area's many pro-independence protests.
Supporters see him as a reformist technocrat with a firm grasp of economics and a preference for consensus building. But critics say he lacks the charisma of his predecessors while retaining their dislike of political reform.