Leaders of both countries seem determined to erase the memory of bad relations during Indonesia's military rule in the 20th century. Cotan notes that his president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has visited China twice - and China's President Xi Jinping recently made a state visit to Jakarta.

"I've been in China for almost four years now, and my focus has always been how to deepen and widen the relationship between China and Indonesia on all fronts," Cotan says, "particularly in trade, investment and tourism. Also, I always try to widen the footprint of Indonesia in China, because the footprint of China in Indonesia is without doubt the largest of any country."

He says millions of ethnic Indonesians have come to live in China over the years, while Indonesian nationals in the Middle Kingdom number about 20,000.

Cotan himself has been attracted by many things in China, including opportunities to see the vast country and to explore the capital on his bicycle.

"I love riding my bicycle and exploring the hutong and narrow streets - and enjoying the street food," he says.

The number of Chinese tourists in Indonesia, meanwhile, is sharply on the rise. "People always think 'Bali!' when they think Indonesia, but our country is made up of 18,000 islands - Bali is just one of them. So we are always urging Chinese visitors to explore more of the country, to see how their Chinese brothers live and work in Indonesia."

That's a message that Indonesia's master storyteller Kho Ping Hoo, an ethnic Chinese who never got to visit China until he was an elderly man, would readily understand.