They came, they swam, they left
In Israel's 52nd year, the rich, famous, and obscure came to visit. Here are our 52 top distinguished tourists

23. Li Peng
Needless to say, Li Peng, chairman of the National People's Congress, who is China's second most powerful figure, was less than thrilled that his six-day visit ended up taking place on the heels of the warm welcome given to the Dalai Lama in the Knesset. As a protest, Li scaled down his own November visit to the Knesset. The rest of his trip, however, went smoothly. Li was the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Israel since the sides established relations in 1992 - until this spring, when Chinese President Jiang Zemin came calling.