WASHINGTON — Taxpayers are serving up a fun-filled vacation for Michelle Obama, who picked up some pingpong pointers on the first day of her junket to China.
The first lady arrived in Beijing Thursday with daughters Sasha, 12, and Malia, 16, and her mom, Marian Robinson, 76, for the weeklong tour.
It was her first time in China, but it didn’t take long for her to soak up the sights and culture.
She got a calligraphy lesson, took in dinner and a performance, and got her first glimpse at some of the city’s iconic sites.
Touring the Beijing Normal School with China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan, Obama, 50, met with students engaged in a spirited game of pingpong against a school instructor.
“My husband plays. He thinks he’s better than he really is. I could stay here all day,” she said.
Obama, a Harvard-educated lawyer, wore wide-legged black slacks and a loose black vest.
But later, chatting with Chinese President Xi Jinpeng, she explained: “I tried my hand a pingpong. Not so good.”
The first lady has just a couple public events open to the press for the tour and a single speech.
While pool reporters had access to some of her events Friday, members of the press weren’t allowed on her plane, and she isn’t granting interviews.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the trip will increase “mutual understanding” between the two countries. The White House says the focus is education and cultural exchange.
The trip is expected to cost millions of dollars, though the White House isn’t revealing the actual price tag.
Administration officials have said there’s no need for the first lady to engage in politics by raising sensitive issues like China’s human-rights record, and they note President Obama will meet with Xi in Europe next week.
But in what some see as a nod to the Dalai Lama, the first lady plans to lunch at a Tibetan restaurant in Chengdu. She’ll also visit the famed terra cotta warriors and the Great Wall.
Her husband has joked about being alone in the White House with only the family dogs.
But he has slated a visit to another ancient wonder. When in Rome for meetings with world leaders, Obama will tour the Colosseum after a visit with Pope Francis at the Vatican, the White House announced Friday.