In 1978, Britta Fischer, a doctoral student in the sociology of science and engineering at Washington University, took part in a tour of the People's Republic of China. A member of the radical organization, Science for the People, Fischer traveled to China, then in the throes of adjusting to the post-Mao order, with the U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Association, one of the first American organizations devoted to fostering people-to-people diplomacy between the United States and the China.

The founder of the USCPFA, veteran civil rights activist Unita Blackwell, toured China with a woman's delegation in 1973, and conceived the idea of engaging in person-to-person diplomacy as a means of improving mutual understanding and strengthening the bonds of friendship between the nations. From its earliest days, the USCPFA pursued its goals by sponsoring a diverse slate of speakers, seminars, cultural and student exchanges, art exhibitions, and language classes throughout the United States, and they published and distributed a range of materials, including the . Perhaps most notably, they became pioneers in organizing tours of China, and for several years they were virtually the only option for American citizens to visit the People's Republic. Reaching its peak in the 1980s, the Association remains a national organization with four semi-autonomous regional branches and 35 local chapters.