'Mrs Brown is amiable and sincere,' said Liu, a junior high student at the Dandelion School in Beijing.

'I've never met a foreigner in my life. Now I've met the British Prime Minister's wife. I was very thrilled and honored.'

Brown arrived at the school at 9:15 am on Friday, a few hours after her flight landed in Beijing.

She chose the school, with its 560 students from migrant worker families, as the first stop on her first visit to the country.

In an understated cream coat, Brown seemed unaffected by the cold during her one-hour tour of the school.

Softly spoken, Brown's low-key style was reflected by her refusal to take questions from the media or give a speech.

But her warmth engaged the students during her visit to the school's library, classrooms and playground.

Students and teachers said Brown was caring and patient.

'She said it is very important to visit schools and meet students,' said Zheng Hong, principal of the Dandelion School.

'She told me she will tell the prime minister about her trip and show him photos of the students and school.'

Brown made sure she spoke to every student in the school's English class, asking them where they were from, did they like learning English and what sports they enjoyed.

Wan Tao, 14, asked Brown about her favorite sports. She replied: 'I like watching football and I like swimming.'

Student representative Liu Cancan sent a card to Brown and in return received dozens of No 10 Downing Street bookmarks.

High heels were no barrier for Brown as she played running games with students, along with British athlete Dame Kelly Holmes.

Students swarmed excitedly around Holmes who won Olympic gold in the 800m and 1500m running events in 2004 when she brought out her two gold medals.

Brown then presented the school's sports teacher with English Premier League football strips, saying she hoped they were 'useful' for children at the school.