Twins Mi Ai and Mi Ni give gifts to British Ambassador to China Dame Barbara Woodward in Beijing on Monday. (Photo by ZHANG DAMAN / FOR CHINA DAILY)
Two Chinese sisters have landed a dream trip to Buckingham Palace and the Peppa Pig World theme park in the United Kingdom after their online appeal to meet Queen Elizabeth II enchanted the British ambassador to China as well as millions of social media users.
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 animated series Peppa Pig and their desire to visit the royal residence.
“Hello, grandmother queen,” Mi Ai said in the video, which has been viewed more than 19 million times. “I’m 5-and-a-half years old. I can play the piano, I am learning to dance, and I’m learning English from my mom.”
Mi Ni said she and her sister want to visit the gardens at Buckingham Palace, just like Peppa Pig and her friends did in a special episode that aired in May around the time of the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
In exchange for an audience with the monarch, the girls promised to help around the home, give their mother massages and bring their grandmother slippers at the door whenever she visits.
British Ambassador to China Dame Barbara Woodward answered their call with her own video, inviting the twins to her residence in Beijing.
“Hello Mi Ni and Mi Ai,” she said in a post that has been viewed over 9 million times. “I’m the British ambassador, so I’m the queen’s representative in China. I’d like you to come and visit me in my house in Beijing and we can perhaps have tea and scones 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 arranged for the girls and their parents to tour the UK. “I was really touched by Mi Ai and Mi Ni’s video,” Woodward said.
The girls are scheduled 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 be available to welcome the girls.
Peppa Pig has a legion of loyal fans in China. The program first debuted on Chinese online video portal Youku in 2011. It is now available on several streaming platforms and has logged over 30 billion episode views.
Toronto-based Entertainment One, which owns the rights to Peppa Pig, has organized a series of releases and events to mark the Year of the Pig in China. It has created a partnership with Alibaba Pictures for a feature film, Peppa Celebrates Chinese New Year, which will appear in theaters on Feb 5.
