US first lady meets Chinese president Xi and wife

Peng also picked up the brush and wrote a four-character Chinese aphorism on virtues before presenting it to Mrs. Obama as a gift.

In another class, students showed the first lady small robots they had built, moving the devices with remote controls. One knee-high robot climbed over a pile of yellow plastic bricks.

“All the students that she met with, the Chinese students, spoke English and were able to explain to her in very fluent English what they were doing,” said Tina Tchen, Mrs. Obama's chief of staff.

“And I think she found that very impressive, because we know it's something that we struggle with in the United States, about having our kids be able to be fluent in a second language by the time they get to high school.”

Lu, the student, said he had bonded with American friends over a shared love of U.S. television, including his favorite series, “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Among the six American exchange students attending the calligraphy class was Audrey Fritz, 17, at the exclusive Sidwell Friends School in Washington.