It's Time for Another Expensive Obama Family World Tour

Chicago Tribune

First lady Michelle Obama will travel to China this month with her daughters, Malia and Sasha, and her mother, Marian Robinson, her office announced today.

The March 19-26 trip will include a visit with her Chinese counterpart, Peng Liyuan, who is a popular folk singer and the second wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The trip will be Michelle Obama's first to China. Her itinerary includes stops in the Chinese capital, Beijing, on March 20-23, Xian on March 24 and Chengdu on March 25-26.

The first lady's focus will be on the importance of education in her own life and in the lives of young people in both countries, her office said.

The trip will feature stops at important historical and cultural sites, a university and high school in Beijing and a high school in Chengdu.

Daughter Malia Obama is 15 years old and Sasha is 12.

Michelle Obama is inviting U.S. students to follow her trip by signing up for updates throughout the trip at whitehouse.gov.

PBS LearningMedia and Discovery Education will offer "engagement opportunities" for young people surrounding the first lady's trip and make resources available to U.S. classrooms about the people and geography of China and current events there, her office said.

PBS LearningMedia offers classroom-ready, curriculum-targeted digital resources for grades pre-K through 12, according to its Web site. Discovery Education, an arm of Discovery Communications, also provides digital content to schools, according to its Web site.

In advance of her overseas trip, Michelle Obama on Tuesday plans to visit a Chinese immersion school, the Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School, where pre-K students are studying the language and sixth graders will tell her about their 2013 trip to China, her office said.

Yu Ying means "nurturing excellence" and is also the name of a groundbreaking school for girls that was founded in 1911 in Beijing, her office said. The Chinese school offered classroom education when the centuries-old tutorial system still was the norm there, and it was a "powerful force for educational change in China," her office said.

Chicago Tribune, March 04, 2014
Via GOP USA