Peng Liyuan: China’s First Lady Steals Limelight on Overseas Tour
New first lady emerges as trendy contrast to her predecessors during Xi Jinping’s first trip abroad since becoming president
He is the most powerful person in China and head of the world’s second largest economy, but when Xi Jinping arrives for the Brics summit in South Africa on Tuesday, chances are that all eyes in his home country will be on the woman at his side.
Peng Liyuan, China’s new first lady, was the talk of Chinese social media at the weekend during a trip to Russia when she emerged as a trendy contrast to her predecessors.
Pictures of Peng stepping off a plane with Xi in Moscow on Friday - the first stop on his first trip abroad since assuming China’s presidency on 14 March - went viral online with praise for her attire: black high heels and stockings, an understated leather bag and a light blue scarf emerging from beneath a dark trenchcoat, collar turned up against the wind.
The 50-year-old People’s Liberation Army singer is often compared to Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Michelle Obama, Raisa Gorbachev and even Kate Middleton: a charismatic performer, trendsetter and dash of colour in an otherwise monochrome regime.
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