Former Chinese PM Wen makes public appearance, visits school

Former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has made a rare public appearance, visiting a high school in a remote area in China where he delivered a geography lecture and took part in physical exercises with students.
Jia Limin, president of Liudaohe High School in north China's Hebei province, released news of Wen's visit, saying it is the third time that the former Premier who retired last year has visited the school in the countryside.
Wen, who hosted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his Beijing visit in September last year, was seen skipping the rope along with students.
Retired Chinese leaders rarely appear in public as a matter of widely followed convention among the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) to keep the focus on the present leadership.

During his visit to the school, Wen attended a Chinese class and a Geography class in the morning, had lunch with students at the dining hall and delivered a Geography lecture in the afternoon.
He also took part in a Taichi (slow motion exercise) session and skipped rope with teachers and students, the official China News Service reported.