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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Peng Liyuan: prepare to see a lot more of China's new first lady | Peng Liyuan: prepare to see a lot more of China's new first lady |
| (10 days later) | |
| Age: 50 | Age: 50 |
| Appearance: Stockings and high heels, both black, accessorised with an elegant leather bag and a powder blue scarf, tucked into a distinctive navy trench coat. | Appearance: Stockings and high heels, both black, accessorised with an elegant leather bag and a powder blue scarf, tucked into a distinctive navy trench coat. |
| What, even indoors? She won't feel the benefit. No, not indoors. Just when she goes on state visits to Russia. | What, even indoors? She won't feel the benefit. No, not indoors. Just when she goes on state visits to Russia. |
| Right. Does that a lot, does she? She will now. She's the wife of China's new president, Xi Jinping. | Right. Does that a lot, does she? She will now. She's the wife of China's new president, Xi Jinping. |
| Boring. When will China have a gay president? Maybe in 100 years or so. Anyway, Peng isn't boring. She's a singer, and a huge star in her own right. | Boring. When will China have a gay president? Maybe in 100 years or so. Anyway, Peng isn't boring. She's a singer, and a huge star in her own right. |
| Pop or classical? More a kind of propaganda-folk. She's been a fixture at the Chinese New Year gala since the 1980s, singing mostly about how great it is to be a peasant, and sometimes about the wisdom of the politburo. | Pop or classical? More a kind of propaganda-folk. She's been a fixture at the Chinese New Year gala since the 1980s, singing mostly about how great it is to be a peasant, and sometimes about the wisdom of the politburo. |
| So she hasn't broken America? Not yet, although she scarcely needs to. People adore her in China, where pictures of the outfit she wore to Russia have released a torrent of online praise. The fashion house that made it – Exception of Guangzhou – had its website crashed by all the traffic. | So she hasn't broken America? Not yet, although she scarcely needs to. People adore her in China, where pictures of the outfit she wore to Russia have released a torrent of online praise. The fashion house that made it – Exception of Guangzhou – had its website crashed by all the traffic. |
| So she's bit like Carla Bruni? Yes exactly, only popular. For years, people have called her the "Peony Fairy". And now she's also known as xxxxxxxx and sometimes xxxxxxxxxxx. | So she's bit like Carla Bruni? Yes exactly, only popular. For years, people have called her the "Peony Fairy". And now she's also known as xxxxxxxx and sometimes xxxxxxxxxxx. |
| I'm pretty sure those aren't words even in Chinese. Drat! I must have been censored. (The search terms "First Lady XI" and "Auntie Peng" have been shut down on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter.) | I'm pretty sure those aren't words even in Chinese. Drat! I must have been censored. (The search terms "First Lady XI" and "Auntie Peng" have been shut down on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter.) |
| I see. So the authorities aren't crazy about all this glamour on state occasions? I'd say they have mixed feelings. State media gave Peng lots of attention. They may be worried about her seeming materialistic, however, or overshadowing her husband. | I see. So the authorities aren't crazy about all this glamour on state occasions? I'd say they have mixed feelings. State media gave Peng lots of attention. They may be worried about her seeming materialistic, however, or overshadowing her husband. |
| But people love a stylish first lady! Think of Michelle Obama, Samantha Cameron, Ri Sol-ju in North Korea. And Russians still speak fondly of Raisa Gorbachev. Didn't her husband basically dismantle communism and cause the collapse of the Soviet Union? | But people love a stylish first lady! Think of Michelle Obama, Samantha Cameron, Ri Sol-ju in North Korea. And Russians still speak fondly of Raisa Gorbachev. Didn't her husband basically dismantle communism and cause the collapse of the Soviet Union? |
| Ah. Quite. | Ah. Quite. |
| Do say: "Your cinched trenchcoat is as beautiful as high-yielding grain!" | Do say: "Your cinched trenchcoat is as beautiful as high-yielding grain!" |
| Don't say: "How much was it?" | Don't say: "How much was it?" |
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