First Ladies

Only when I read about the Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping's visit to the United States did I realize that he is married to the famous folk singer Peng Liyuan. I had not heard of him prior to his visit (mostly because I have not been following Chinese politics and not because he was unknown), but I surely have known about his wife since I was a little girl growing up in China. She was one of the most famous singers in China, regularly appearing on TV in various gala shows.

Considering that Xin Jinping is supposed to succeed Hu Jintao as the next leader of China, I commented to a friend that it will mark the first time that China will have a glamorous "First Lady" whose fame in China long proceeded her husband's. My friend quipped back, "Yes indeed. There could be a singing competition among all the First Ladies and she will easily beat everyone else!"

Speaking of First Ladies, there are the glamorous and visible ones such as Michelle Obama in the United States, Carla Bruni Sarkozy in France and Asma al-Assad in Syria. There have been influential ones such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton. More often than not, the First Ladies have been quiet and absent from the public eye, especially in China. Perhaps the painful memory from the Cultural Revolution has made the Chinese especially wary of the influence of a First Lady, due to the psychotic Madame Mao (i.e. Jiang Qing). I must admit that even now I have no idea about the woman to whom the current leader of China Hu Jintao is married, assuming that he is married.

Therefore, it will be interesting to watch what Peng Liyuan will be like once she becomes the "First Lady" of China.