World Leaders on Vacation

Hu Jintao
For decades, China's Communist Party leadership met at the seaside town of Beidaihe, 186 miles (300 km) east of Beijing, to hash out big decisions and relax at a secluded government resort on the shores of Bohai Bay. In 2003 newly installed President Hu Jintao cancelled the annual summer enclave, part of a campaign to tamp down images of official extravagance. Now official media stress that Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao work hard — even on public holidays, when they can be seen sharing dumplings with miners or visiting migrant workers crammed into train stations.

• Vladimir Putin: Action Figure
• Reading into Leaders' Vacation Spots