It appears that some may not be left feeling so good following Michelle Obama’s (aka FLOTUS), week-long goodwill tour of China, which ended Wednesday, March 26.
It has been reported that at least one employee (that’s all it takes to get the Daily Mail jacked up) complained of inconveniences caused by the arrival of the First Lady, two daughters and extensive Secret Service entourage at the Westin Beijing Chaoyang hotel on Wednesday of last week. Although it was Mrs. Obama’s mother who garnered special attention by purportedly ‘barking at the staff since her arrival.’ But let’s not be too judgmental – we’re all guilty of an overexcited “fuwuyuanr!” every now and then.
During the trip – billed as a reprise of pingpong diplomacy and the strengthening of ties that occurred between America and China 40 years ago – amity between the Obamas and hotel guests was put to the test. Some guests were reportedly kicked out of their executive rooms to make space on the upper floors, while others were unable to even reach the upper floors after Special agents took control of the elevators. It’s the kind of service one can only expect when paying over $8,000 a night.
And the grievances didn’t stop there. According to NY Daily News, during her appearance at the Stanford Center at Peking University, Mrs. Obama also risked angering her company with an apparent jibe at China’s internet censorship laws stating, “It is so important for information and ideas to flow freely over the Internet and through the media,” adding “Because that’s how we discover the truth, that’s how we learn what’s really happening in our communities, in our country and our world.”
The First Lady also met with her Chinese counterpart Peng Liyuan as well as President Xi Jinping before making an attempt to escape this week’s particularly bad air by visiting a number of sites, including the Great Wall, where she encountered perilous climbs and the Summer Palace, which is currently swamped with flying ants. Seriously, if you go take a head scarf.
Now that Team Obama has left Beijing expect a return to blue skies and good manners.
This post first appeared in the Beijinger on March 27, 2014
Photo courtesy of China.org.cn via the Beijinger.
