▲ First Ladies Peng Liyuan and Melania Trump visit a museum.
While U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a summit, their spouses, First Lady Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan, shared a separate companion schedule.
After attending a welcoming ceremony held at the White House on the morning of the 24th local time, the two first ladies visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C., where they toured the Peacock Room, which exhibits Chinese blue-and-white and celadon ceramics.
Decorated in gold, blue, and green with a peacock motif, the walls of the Peacock Room feature a painting by American artist James McNeill Whistler depicting two peacocks fighting, symbolizing the clash between art and money.
The two first ladies viewed Whistler's works, including "The Princess from the Land of Porcelain," which portrays a woman in a kimono holding a fan.
Chase Robinson, director of the Asian art museum, and Daniel Bennett, deputy director of collections and exhibitions, provided explanations of the artwork.
Melania Trump listened to the explanations of the exhibits and exclaimed that they were "beautiful and amazing," according to the White House pool press corps.
The two first ladies then met with local students waiting on the steps at the museum entrance.
About 36 students aged 8 to 15 from HOPE Chinese Charter School, a Chinese-language educational institution in the Washington, D.C. area, wore blue and white clothes, waved the flags of the two countries, and sang two songs.
One of those songs was sung in both Chinese and English.
Melania Trump smiled, applauded at the end of each song, and shouted "Bravo," while Peng Liyuan also sang along with the children and showed a bright smile.
After the performance, the two briefly spoke with the students and took commemorative photos together.
On this day, Melania Trump wore a black tweed jacket and skirt, while Peng Liyuan wore a dark navy blue dress with a design reminiscent of the traditional Chinese qipao.
On the 25th, the two are scheduled to have tea with the two leaders in the White House Red Room and subsequently visit the National Archives, where documents such as the U.S. Declaration of Independence are preserved.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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