Jin Hanmiao, a Grade One boy from China, received a reply letter from Buckingham Palace recently. He wrote to the queen to introduce the China-Britain express railway service.
The letter is based on the 19-day journey of the first China-UK goods train. Seeing the news of its return to Yiwu, Jin’s mother encouraged him to write about it and then send the letter to Queen Elizabeth II.
“I was just trying to encourage his interest in English, and was surprised when Buckingham Palace wrote back,” Jin’s mother said.
In his letter, Jin introduced himself and Yiwu. He hoped that the Queen would know more traditional Chinese culture. He also expressed his interest in the UK, after mentioning some British famous people and landmarks including Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and the British Museum. He then sent his letter to the Queen.
Jin’s mother helped translate the letter into English, and sent both the original letter and the translation to London. Two months later, they received a reply from Buckingham Palace. The letter talked about the living and working conditions of the Queen at an early age, and included a detailed introduction of the Palace.