As Chinese President Xi Jinping departs Friday on his first overseas tour, which includes stops in Moscow and three African countries, along with the BRICS summit in Durban, South Africa, Beijing's media is buzzing about the impact of Xi’s famous wife Peng Liyuan, who will be traveling with him.

　　China's new first lady, one of the country’s most prominent folk singers and a World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, has long been as well known as her husband.

　　that she would accompany her husband on the trip has already attracted widespread attention on China’s Twitter-like Weibo micro-blogging service, where expectations are high about her ability to boost Beijing’s image abroad.

　　"Each country's First Lady has her own style and flare, and the thing that the world loves is color and diversity," says Tsinghua University political scientist Tang Xiaoyang.

　　As Peng and President Xi embark on their trip to Moscow, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo, the outing is the president’s first opportunity to shape his image as China’s new leader before foreign audiences.

　　In Russia, China’s president will focus on strengthening long steady bilateral ties and boosting already booming cooperation in fields such as energy, aviation, space and technology.

　　Renmin University journalism professor Zhong Xin says there are high expectations that Peng will help her husband convey a friendly image of China.

　　"Mrs. Peng is beautiful and popular and because this is the first time she will be unveiled in her new public role, she will have a good influence," she said, explaining that the new First Lady will not only shed a positive light on herself, but the president and the entire country. Peng is expected to engage in some public activities with other first ladies, and media reports indicate she may even deliver a speech during next week’s BRICS summit.

　　According to Zhong, such high-profile events for a Chinese first lady represent a departure from the past. "China doesn’t have a tradition of a First Lady following the president like in the West," says Zhong.

　　中國國家主席習近平在上周五開始了首次外訪，將對俄羅斯和其他四個非洲國家展開國事訪問，還將參加在南非德班舉行的金磚四國峰會。習近平的妻子、著名歌唱家彭麗媛隨主席陪同出訪，第一夫人引起了媒體的普遍關注。

　　作為新任第一夫人，彭麗媛是中國著名的民歌歌唱家，也是世界衛生組織結核病和艾滋病親善大使，長期以來彭麗媛和丈夫習近平一樣在中國家喻戶曉。

　　在中國重要的社交網絡微博上，關于彭麗媛將陪同出訪的消息引起了極大關注，很多網友都對她此行提升中國在世界的形象表達了極大的期望。

　　來自清華[微博]大學[微博]的政治學者唐曉陽表示：“每個國家的第一夫人都有自己的特色和亮點，人們想看到的就是第一夫人們不同多樣的風格。”

　　彭麗媛和習近平主席本次出行將到訪俄羅斯、坦桑尼亞、南非和剛果共和國。習主席的首次出訪，也是在世界民眾前第一次展現中國新任領導人的風采和形象。

　　在俄羅斯，習近平主席將重點強調加強與俄羅斯長期穩定的雙邊關系，以及兩國在能源、航空、太空和科技等領域的密切合作。

　　中國人民大學[微博]新聞學院教授鐘欣表示，人們對彭麗媛可以幫助習近平主席傳遞友好中國的形象有著很高的期望。

　　她說：“彭麗媛女士非常漂亮，非常受歡迎，這次她第一次以新的公眾角色出現在人們面前，會展現非常好的影響力。” 她認為這位中國新任第一夫人不僅會展示自己的正面形象，也會對主席和整個中國的形象起到非常積極的作用。據悉彭麗媛還將其他國家的第一夫人們一起參與到公共活動中來。而根據媒體的報道，彭麗媛還將在下周的金磚四國峰會期間發表演講。

　　鐘欣教授表示，中國第一夫人這樣高調參與重要場合也與之前的情況大不相同。“和西方國家不同的是，前幾任中國主席的妻子都比較低調，中國并沒有第一夫人的傳統。”