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On the afternoon of September 8, 2022, at the age of 96, Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, having become the first and only British monarch to visit China in October 1986. It was also one of the most important state visits she made during her 70-year reign. During her six-day visit to China, Elizabeth II visited five cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Kunming and Guangzhou, visited historical sites such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Terracotta Warriors, and attended dozens of public events of various types. This historic visit became a great story in the history of Sino-British relations.
October 15, 1986
Shanghai Yuyuan Garden Appreciation Dinner
After finishing her visit in Beijing, the Queen and her delegation flew from Beijing to Shanghai for a visit in the morning of the 15th.
At that time, there were seven special planes accompanying the Queen, namely: the Queen's British Airways Samsung special plane, Prince Philip came to China at one time to fly their own BA146 special plane, for the Queen to transport supplies Trident special plane, Chinese escorts and journalists Boeing 737 special plane, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of Information for some foreign journalists and Hong Kong journalists arranged for the chartered plane and the British journalists themselves rented two chartered planes.
1、Drinking tea and listening to music in Yu Garden
The Queen first visited the famous garden in Jiangnan - Yu Garden. She came to the tea room on the second floor of the Hu Xin Ting to take a break, the attendant handed over a set of purple sand tea set, poured the lion's peak dragon well, invited the queen to taste tea.
The queen's song was opened by the actress Shi Wenlei, and Lu Chunling, who is known as the "divine flute", played the Scottish folk song "Country Garden".
Before leaving, the Queen took off her silk-screen gloves when she shook hands with Shi Wenlei, while she shook hands with Lu Chunling with gloves on.
The Queen also visited the Shanghai Yu Garden Mall.
As the Queen stepped out of the car, her nostrils twitched as the air was filled with all sorts of smells, flavored spices, garlic, tea, and especially the pungent smell of cigarettes ......
In front of the Jiangnan souvenir, tea and art ceramics store, she stopped to admire a smiling pot-bellied Buddha with considerable interest. When she passed the production room of Nanxiang Steamed Bun Shop, she saw seven or eight female workers making small dumplings and one small and delicate dumpling through the glass, so she stopped again and seemed to be studying the method of wrapping dumplings.
The Western Suburbs Hotel was the second stopping point for the Queen's visit to China. To welcome her, pictures of the couple were hung in the bedroom and living room, and a large antique porcelain vase was placed in the living room, which was specially loaned from the museum in consideration of the Queen's interest in Chinese porcelain. Even the tableware used at lunch, were specially replaced with ancient porcelain.
2、Appreciation banquet on board the Royal Yacht
The Queen's appreciation party for the Chinese side was held on board the Royal Yacht Britannia in Shanghai. When the Queen was visiting Beijing and Xi'an, the Royal Yacht had already sailed into Shanghai to moor at Yang Shupu Pier. For this reason, President Li Xiannian and his wife broke with the usual practice and made a special trip to Shanghai to attend.
The banquet that evening was carefully prepared by the British side, all the tableware was only taken out for use by the Queen for the state banquet, and the waiters were all personnel who had served in the palace for many years.
Li Xiannian took the elevator from the bottom of the yacht to the second floor, where the queen and her husband stood early on the red carpeted deck, awaiting the arrival of Li Xiannian and other distinguished guests. Then, in accordance with the rules of the British royal family, the Queen and her husband and wife with Li Xiannian couple four photos.
After the banquet, a grand flag lowering ceremony was held on the yacht, and the military band performed a sub-formation performance, and the event lasted until 11:00 pm late at night.
The Queen also offered the Royal Yacht as a venue for the event and held a large-scale symposium on economic and trade cooperation between the two countries on the yacht and at the Peace Hotel, which was attended by more than 100 British entrepreneurs and more than 300 representatives from various Chinese departments and institutions. The symposium achieved fruitful results and signed more than ten letters of intent or agreements on cooperation projects.
After sending off more than 200 guests from China and abroad, the Queen stepped off the yacht and returned to the Xijiao Hotel, where thousands of Shanghai citizens lined the streets to see the Queen in all her glory, with millions of colored lights on the Bund, Nanjing Road and Huaihai Road.
The Queen told her Chinese escort that she could not feel it in Beijing, but only when she arrived in Shanghai did she really believe that China has one billion people. She asked the driver to slow down the car, turned on the small lights in the car and said.
Let me see the Shanghainese, and let the Shanghainese see me.
October 16, 1986
Xi'an Terracotta Warriors and Horses Kunming
The Queen spent the day of October 16 in the cities of Shanghai, Xi'an and Kunming respectively.
At 10:20 a.m., the Queen and her party boarded the plane from Shanghai to Xi'an. To save time, lunch was eaten on the plane.
At noon, the plane landed at Xi'an airport and the Queen and her party drove directly to the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum in Lintong to visit.
When the Queen's motorcade passed the clock tower in the city center, tens of thousands of people greeted along the way, and 500 lucky doves were released. The huge scene took the Queen by surprise, and she specifically asked the driver to slow down the car to show her gratitude.
1、Visiting Terracotta Warriors and Horses
At the Terracotta Warriors Museum, the Queen was accompanied by: Wu Xueqian and his wife, then Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs; Li Qingwei and his wife, Governor of Shaanxi Province; Wang Wenqing, Director of the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau; and Wu Zilin, Director of the Terracotta Warriors Museum.
As the queen walked to the entrance of the hall of Terracotta Warriors Pit 1, actors from the Xi'an Opera and Dance Theatre set up a Terracotta Warriors square on the steps, attracting the queen's attention.
She curiously came over and found that these "figurines" are "alive", head shaking, body swinging, the queen felt some surprise. Li Qingwei, the governor of Shaanxi Province, smiled and said to the queen.
These warriors are live terracotta warriors dressed by actors who have come to welcome you.
The queen smiled, and she also reached out to touch the living "terracotta warriors", and said repeatedly.
It's so peculiar, it's so peculiar.
The Queen and Prince Philip came to the first pit to admire the warriors with different faces and expressions, and saw that the terracotta warriors just unearthed were falling to the east and breaking.
Prince Philip said to the Queen.
It seems that restoring a horse is much more difficult than making one.
The Queen said.
Yes, archaeology is hard and noble work.
Standing on the viewing platform of the Terracotta Army Pavilion, the Queen was very interested in the ceramic horse, which she said was not tall, but very spirited. The queen pointed to a ceramic horse and asked.
Why are these horses unsaddled?
The commentator answers:
The original saddle was proven to be made of leather and was destroyed by a fire in history.
The Queen nodded, and then asked.
Why didn't Qin Shi Huang use bronze to shape his war horses?
The queen's question was resolved when she saw the bronze chariot horse. The Queen asked:
Does a horse have a halter? Where is the halter rope? How do you loop a halter?
The guide answered her questions one by one.
The Queen was already an accomplished rider, so it is no coincidence that the pottery horse of Qin Shi Huang more than 2,000 years ago aroused her keen interest.
She said with emotion.
I had heard about the Terracotta Warriors and seen photos in the past, but this time I saw it in person and it was amazing.
Finally, Elizabeth II and Prince Philip signed the guestbook and stamped the seal presented to them by Shaanxi Province.
In 2019, Wu Zilin, then director of the Terracotta Warriors Museum, devoted a paragraph in an article written for the 40th anniversary of the Qin Shihuang Imperial Tombs Museum, "Remembering Two or Three Things about the Terracotta Museum," to a description of the Queen's visit to the Terracotta Museum.
The queen and the prince went down to the first pit and carefully admired the warriors with different faces, looking at the hair style, looking at the beard, comparing them over and over again, concentrating on them and looking at them intensely. The Queen was very interested in these terracotta warriors and horses, asking questions from time to time, feeling very shocked and reluctant to leave for a long time.
2、Prince Philip apologized for the gaffe
During the time in Xi'an, there was another hiccup. While accompanying the Queen on her visit to the Terracotta Warriors, Prince Philip took time to receive a dozen British students from Edinburgh, the first group of students who came to Xi'an after the city and the city of Edinburgh became a sister city.
Prince Philip asked them about their studies and living in China and joked to them that if they studied there for too long, their eyes would become slanted, like the Chinese.
In casual conversation he again blurted out without thinking.
Beijing is dreary and tiresome.
Prince Philip himself also felt out of line, and afterwards took the initiative to say to the Chinese side that he had "inadvertently done something wrong" and was sorry for it.
Later, when asked about this at a press conference in Kunming, a press official from the Chinese Foreign Ministry had this to say.
Relations between China and the United Kingdom are developing very well, and the Queen and the Prince's visit to China went well and was a success. The Queen and the Prince have said many times that they had a good time in China. As for the words you mentioned, I was not present and did not hear them.
This statement was generally appreciated by British journalists. This press officer was Li Zhaoxing, who later served as China's foreign minister.
3、Arrival in Kunming
At 3:30 p.m., the queen rushed back to Xi'an airport. Two hours later the special plane landed at Kunming Wujiaba Airport.
At the airport welcome ceremony flown with Chinese and British flags, more than 1,500 people dressed in 24 ethnic minority costumes played ethnic music and waved bouquets and ribbons in their hands.
The Queen stepped off the plane in a green suit, shook hands with people and accepted a flower offering from a little girl. After the Queen's motorcade entered downtown Kunming, nearly 10,000 people on both sides of the street spontaneously applauded and welcomed.
The Queen stayed at the Zhenzhuang Hotel that night.
This hotel was preparing for the Queen's arrival six months in advance: a special welcoming pine was planted in front of the main entrance, two new Chinese pavilions were built on the Jiuqu Bridge, and the waiters were specially trained in etiquette.
The room where the Queen lived was decorated according to her habits, and it took three months for skilled craftsmen to create a rosewood bed and dresser specifically for the Queen. The bed was carefully carved with double lions rolling embroidered balls, and the red bedspread was embroidered with double phoenixes rising in the sun, highlighting the traditional Chinese cultural style.
The next day, the Queen and her delegation will officially begin their visit in Kunming.
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