Ray Dalio started going to China in 1984.

The claim is that Dalio started going to China in 1984. True: biographical sources, Bridgewater records, or Dalio's own writings (for example 'Principles' or his China essays) place his first trip to China in 1984. Mostly true: the first visit is dated within one year (1983 or 1985). Mixed: sources conflict on the date. Mostly false: the first visit was 2–4 years from 1984. False: reliable records place his first China visit more than 4 years from 1984.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Principles optionwings.com (third-party copy of Dalio's Principles text) Own record

   “The curiosity drew me to Beijing in 1984. This first trip, which I made with my wife and a few other people, began an incredibly rewarding 30+ year journey that has had a profound impact on my family and me.”

2. E2 Transcript: MiB interview with Ray Dalio - The Big Picture The Big Picture (Barry Ritholtz) · 10 December 2017

   “Well yeah I went to their I started going 1984 to China and because not for business or anything, because it was an interesting place”

3. E3 The US billionaire investor treated like a rock star in China South China Morning Post · 4 March 2018

   “He first set foot on Chinese soil in 1984 when he was invited by the Chinese state conglomerate Citic, to teach China – then a relative economic Communist backwater eager to learn from market economies – how financial markets work.”

4. E4 Hedge fund guru shares mantra of 'radical transparency' China Daily · 26 March 2018

   “When American investor and hedge fund manager Ray Dalio first visited China in 1984, the nation was in the early stages of the reform and opening-up process which set in motion a period of high economic growth”

Two independent news reports put Dalio's first visit to China in 1984. The South China Morning Post says he first set foot there in 1984 at Citic's invitation (E3), and China Daily says he first visited in 1984 (E4). These match Dalio's own Principles text, which dates his first trip to Beijing to 1984 (E1), and his interview remark that he started going in 1984 (E2). None of the sources gives a different date.