NPR's Leila Fadel and Steve Inskeep speak about his upcoming reporting trip to China and why it is important now.

STEVE INSKEEP, BYLINE: Hi there ... INSKEEP: Yes. WANG: And my parents both for - worked for the coal bureau. FADEL: The coal bureau? INSKEEP: Yeah, old economy, all in this coal mining region ...

The numbers of Americans learning Mandarin Chinese has declined dramatically, but one elementary school in Washington DC is seeing more demand for Chinese language education than ever.