CRI听力:Xi Jinping Visits Primary School in Tasmania

These are 22 primary school students waiting for Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at Tasmania's Government House.

President Xi Shakes hands and chats with every student in the front row. Then, the group planted a yulan magnolia together.

These children are Year Five students at Scotch Oakburn Junior School located in Launceston, Tasmania.

Each of them has a personal connection with President Xi.

The story dates back to several months ago.

In May, these students were learning how to write persuasive letters in their English class. They have also been learning Mandarin over the last two years, and are really interested in China.

The students came up with the idea to send a letter to President Xi and Madam Peng, inviting them to visit Tasmania.

Each child wrote a letter to President Xi, introducing the unique and amazing wildlife, spectacular views, and delicious food of Tasmania.

Shortly afterwards, the students got a response from the Chinese Embassy in Australia. Last week, the Chinese Ambassador Ma Zhaoxu came to the school and gave the students a letter from President Xi and madam Peng.

President Xi said in the letter: "thank you for your kind letters. The Chinese characters in your letters, which are all beautifully written, led us to believe that you are learning Chinese very hard. We are looking forward to visiting Australia once again, including your home state Tasmania, where we can take a tour to the scenic spots and places mentioned in your letters."

President Xi also asked Ambassador Ma convey a message to a student named Brooke Bremner. He told Brooke she wrote a character wrong. Instead of writing "I am 10 years old" she wrote "you are 10 years old". In the interview, the little girl is too embarrassed to talk about her little mistake. But other students are so delighted in talking about it.

The students were so excited to get a letter from President Xi. In order to better communicate with president Xi and Madam Peng, they have been working hard to practice their Chinese, and they had prepared several questions to ask President Xi. But they were just too excited and nervous that they forgot to ask President Xi when meeting him in person.

Sam Bateman is the children's Chinese language teacher. He says that the students are really interested in Chinese studies. They like singing Chinese number songs and playing Chinese games.

"I think the most important thing is to make the students interested in learning Chinese. I let them play Chinese plays, such as the shuttlecocks I bought from Beijing. They all like kicking it."

In Tasmania, Xi Jinping also met with the family of late Premier Jim Bacon.

The President recalled Bacon's trip to China in 2001, when Xi Jinping was still governor of China's eastern province of Fujian, which had established a sister-state relationship with Tasmania.

For CRI, I'm Wang Xiao in Hobart.