The Princess Royal has begun a week-long tour of the People’s Republic of China where she will visit the capital and other large Chinese cities.
Princess Anne arrived in the country on Monday for a five-day stay, where she will conduct engagements in Beijing, Wuhan and Changsha.
Her Royal Highness is visiting the country to strenghen China’s relationship with the UK.
Princess Anne last visited China twelve years ago back in 2005. The aim of this visit was also to strengthen the UK/China relationship ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Following the successful Beijing Games, London was chosen to be the next host city for the world famous Olympic Games and The Queen’s daughter ensured the handover went according to plan.
As she will on her current visit, the Princess also visited charities, which included looking at the work of Save the Children in China.
Twenty years ago exactly, Princess Anne’s brother, the Prince of Wales, was in the country for the official ceremony which marked the handover of Hong Kong from British rule to Chinese.
Thousands of people gathered to protest in the city last week when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited to commemorate the occasion of the handover.
The Princess Royal will not be visiting Hong Kong during her tour of China, instead opting to remain in Beijing and the cities of Wuhan and Changsha.
Wuhan is the most populous city in Central China and is the capital of the Hubei province. Often refered to as ‘the Chicago of China’, the city is located over 1,000km away from Beijing.
Even further away with a distance of 1,500km from Beijing is the city of Changsha – the capital of the Hunan province. Changsha is an important commercial, manufacturing and transportation center in China and will be home to Princess Anne for a day.