At the dawn of the 21st century, Lee Kuan Yew, now in his later years, continued to make frequent, albeit shorter, visits to China. He made 17 trips in total, including one in 2000 when he was conferred an honorary doctorate in law from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Lee attended the spectacular opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, witnessing China's show of discipline, determination and professionalism. He later wrote an article in Forbes Asia about the steps that China had taken to improve its hardware and software after winning the bid to host the Olympics.

Generations of Chinese leaders also regarded the founding prime minister of Singapore as “an old friend of the Chinese people”. True to this moniker, the first country that Lee visited in 2011 after he stepped down as Singapore's Minister Mentor was China. He met then Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping during the visit, and that was also the last time the 87-year- old Lee visited China.

Lee did not just leave behind his footprints in China, having walked up and down the country. He also left behind the tradition of leaders fostering understanding and close ties by exchanging frequent visits, which lives on to this day.