Attributes: Known as "luo han guo" in Chinese, the fruit has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat coughs, sore throats and an array of illnesses.
Mr. Guo said Chinese business travelers from diverse industries including pharmaceuticals, software development and green technology had contacted him and asked for introductions to potential partners.
But despite a lengthy discussion with officials in which Gong, Guo and Chinese team leaders argued their case, the decision stood.
Guo says Chinese investors are increasingly concerned about regulatory uncertainties like prolonged reviews and additional procedures, which are complicating their investment strategies amid the already cut-throat competition for deals in Silicon Valley.
"In China you can knock down everything, just not Tiananmen Square," said Mr. Guo, a Chinese-born artist and Australian citizen.
"Doesn't 'chai' look like warfare?" asked Mr. Guo, using the Chinese word for demolition.
"In high school," Mr. Guo said, "every Chinese student will learn about united French and British forces occupying Beijing".
Five-meter-high figures painted on rice-paper rolls by Guo Fengyi, a Chinese factory worker turned artist, tower above you on one floor.
Guo Biqiang, a Chinese archive official, told the Xinhua news agency: "This year marks the 70th anniversary of the victory of the world anti-fascist war, as well as the Chinese people's war of resistance against Japanese aggression.
A cache of 57 undulant visionary landscapes by the American Joseph Yoakum (1890-1972) and 10 finely textured, scroll-like drawings of phantoms by the Chinese Guo Fengyi (1942-2010) — both formidable outsider artists — are included as if it were no big deal.
