A first for the first lady

In China, Michelle Obama is stirred by the young and the old

The US first lady Michelle Obama has completed a seven-day visit to China, one in which the accent was on meeting young people, and in which she gained an insight into the country's historical heritage.

During the first independent trip by a US president's wife to China, Obama, traveling with her mother and two daughters, visited Beijing, Xi'an and Chengdu.

She gave two speeches on the importance of education, in Beijing and Chengdu, during the visit, which ended on March 26.

Obama met students of three middle schools in three cities and college students from the Peking University.

Addressing Chinese and American students at Peking University she talked of the importance of academic exchanges between China and the US.

"Studying abroad isn't just a fun way to spend a semester; it is quickly becoming the key to success in our global economy," she said in a speech at Peking University on March 22.

Young people of China and the US living and studying in each other's countries would help dispel stereotypes and misconceptions, she said.

In a speech at No 7 High School in Chengdu, she told of her upbringing, encouraging rural Chinese students to aim high and get a good education.

"The truth is that I grew up like many of you," she said. "My mom, my dad, my brother and I, we lived in a tiny apartment in Chicago.

"I remember something my mother always told me. She said 'A good education is something that no one can take away from you'."

In an online journal entry she said: "I'm not just passionate about education in my role as first lady - this issue is also very personal for me. Like so many parents here in China who care so deeply about educating their kids, my parents were determined to send me and my brother to college."

Obama was gushing in her admiration for the historic sites she saw. She visited the Great Wall, the Summer Palace in Beijing and the Terracotta Warriors and ancient city wall in Xi'an.

"Today we drove about an hour north of Beijing to a village called Mutianyu to visit a section of the Great Wall of China, which was simply breathtaking," she said in the journal.

In Xi'an, she was in awe over the city's mixture of ancient and modern buildings.

"Here at Xi'an, you can't miss how both sides of China - the ancient and the modern - are intertwined in a city that's as much a part of China's past as it is its future."

While in Beijing, her family dined at a Peking roast duck restaurant and a hot pot restaurant in a city neighborhood that also showcases the Sichuan opera, known for its face-changing technique.

With US students and teachers at the Summer Palace they watched a Peking Opera drama about monkeys. In Chengdu they saw pandas.

xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 03/28/2014 page28)