Peng Liyuan Moved As Youth Choir Sings Jasmine Flower At Smithsonian

A youth choir’s performance of the Chinese folk song “Jasmine Flower” drew a visibly warm response from China’s first lady Peng Liyuan during a Smithsonian visit, according to footage of the event.

Choir performs with Chinese and American flags

The footage shows the Hope Chinese School youth choir waving Chinese and American national flags as they sang “Jasmine Flower”.

Peng watched the children with a smile, and her lips moved along to the lyrics during the rendition.

The song is a beloved Chinese folk song and is also known as “Mo Li Hua”.

Peng reacts after the song

As the performance ended, Peng turned to her US counterpart and smiled while placing a hand to her heart.

The gesture showed she was visibly moved by the children’s rendition.

The two first ladies applauded the children after the performance.

Peng also called out “bravo” to the choir.

A song long linked to Peng’s repertoire

“Jasmine Flower” has long been part of Peng’s repertoire.

Peng is a celebrated soprano with the People’s Liberation Army and has sung the song on numerous major occasions.

Those occasions include the 2008 Beijing Olympics one-year countdown celebration at Tiananmen Square.

The moment mattered because the children performed a song closely associated with Peng, and her reaction showed the cultural connection created by the rendition.

Source: South China Morning Post