US first lady Michelle Obama (C), her daughters Malia (L) and Sasha (2nd L), and Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping (3rd R), watch students demonstrating a remote-controlled robot, at the Beijing Normal School, a school which prepares students for university abroad, in Beijing, March 21, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

US first ladies in China

Michelle Obama starts landmark trip

"I heard that the first family would visit a high school in Beijing and I saw from my apartment that people were decorating the campus with flowers, which indicate someone important is coming. So I guessed they will come here," he said.

Xiang Guangmei, a junior at Minzu University of China in Beijing, said she was waiting with her camera for what seemed like an eternity.

Xiang, who is studying art at the university, said she is also interested in international affairs and came to the school to snap a shot of the Chinese first lady and the US first family.

"Who would miss such an opportunity to see the first ladies from both China and the US?" she said.

Xiang appeared patient for the party to arrive, but Carlson was a bundle of nerves.

"My Chinese-language class starts at 10 am and I don't have much time," he said.

Luckily, he didn't have to wait long. Around 9:30 am, cars carrying Michelle Obama, her daughters, Sasha and Malia, her mother Marian Robinson, and the US first lady's staff members arrived. The excitement immediately grew outside the school gate and people held up their cameras or cellphones high in the hopes of getting a shot of Obama.

Carlson then said he saw Michelle Obama through the car window. After snapping a few shots, he left with contentment for his Mandarin classes. It wasn't clear if China's first lady, Peng Liyuan, arrived with Obama.

Most of the people at the gate decided to stay a little while longer until Obama and her entourage departed from the school. About 10:50 am, their cars drove out, inciting an intense array of clicks of cameras and cellphones until the cars drifted out of view.