Two Chinese sisters have landed a dream trip to Buckingham Palace and the Peppa Pig World theme park in the UK. Lately, their mother helped them express their wish online to meet Queen Elizabeth II, which not only caught millions of social media users' attention but also the attention of the British ambassador (大使) to China.
Five-year-old twins Mi Ai and Mi Ni, who live in Beijing, appeared in a video on social media platform Weibo last week, where they spoke of their love of British cartoon Peppa Pig and their keen interest to visit the Buckingham Palace. Mi Ni said she and her sister wanted to visit the gardens at Buckingham Palace, just like Peppa Pig and her friends did in the cartoon program.
The British Ambassador answered their call with her own video, inviting the twins to her house in Beijing. "Hello Mi Ni and Mi Ai," she said. "I'm the British ambassador. I'd like you to come and visit me in my house in Beijing and we can perhaps have tea and cookies in a British style." The twins accepted the ambassador's invitation and joined her for a traditional afternoon tea on Monday, when they ate cake and drew pictures of their favorite characters from Peppa Pig.
The ambassador has made arrangements for the girls and their parents to tour the UK. They are going to tour the studios where Peppa Pig is made, take a trip to Peppa Pig World in Hampshire and visit Buckingham Palace. The queen has not yet said if she will have time to welcome the girls.
The Peppa Pig series, introduced in the mid-2000s in China, has become extremely popular among Chinese children and adults. As this year is the Year of the Pig according to Chinese tradition, the country has set to mark the Chinese New Year with a film starring Peppa Pig, where audiences can see a number of Chinese cultural elements (元素).
