Queen Elizabeth II was most likely the hardest-working monarch in the history of the world, traveling more than one million miles on state visits to 117 countries. She was on the throne for more than 70 years, the longest reign in British history. The runner-up was Queen Victoria, whose reign lasted from 1837 to 1901. However, Queen Victoria, never ventured beyond Europe, despite ruling over the largest empire the world had ever seen, including over 14 million square miles of territory and 450 million people. That comprised nearly a quarter of the land surface of the globe, and more than a quarter of its population.

One scene from the first season of the Netflix series, The Crown, really brought home to me the arduousness of Queen Elizabeth’s life on the road undertaking all those state visits. She laments to her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, about how sore her face feels from having had to do all that smiling—endless hours of it. She felt it was her responsibility to keep smiling at her subjects, whatever the circumstances, even though Prince Philip did not always feel it was necessary to follow suit.

I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet the Queen in person on one of those international visits. In October 1986, she was the first British monarch to visit China, accompanied by her husband. At that time, I was working as a journalist advisor for China Radio International’s English language broadcasting department in Beijing. As a somewhat prominent member of the British expat community, I was invited to an Official Garden Party at the British Embassy, where the Queen and Prince Philip would be in attendance. The guests were provided with glasses of white wine and cucumber sandwiches on white bread with the crusts cut off. When the Queen arrived, we were all instructed to line up around the edge of the embassy garden, forming three sides of a square. The Queen then walked around inside the square, stopping every so often to say a few words to certain key guests and shake their hands, but alas, I was not important enough to merit that attention. However right next to me was the British Chinese host of China’s very first TV program to be broadcast in English, and she was awarded a royal handshake and a few words of greeting. Behind the queen walked two middle-aged ladies-in-waiting, very frumpily dressed and each carrying large brown handbags. They reminded me of the Townswomen’s Guild ladies in the Monty Python sketch about reenacting the Battle of Pearl Harbor.

The trip to China was arranged after the 1994 signing of an agreement to transfer the sovereignty of Hong Kong from Britain to China in 1997. Sadly, the “One country, two systems,” plan that was promised for Hong Kong has not lasted. It was crushed by China’s current leader, Xi Jinping.

The Queen was clearly more impressed with Deng Xiaoping, the President of China in 1986, than President Xi. In 2015, Xi visited Britain, and the following year AP News and other outlets reported that the Queen let slip that she felt Chinese officials had been “very rude” in their dealings with British counterparts during that state visit. Rude or not, the world is stuck with Xi Jinping. Deng Xiaoping made some extraordinary reforms in China, including introducing a two-consecutive-term limit to China’s presidency in 1982. However, as reported on NPR, these term limits were removed in 2018, allowing Xi Jinping to rule in effect till he kicks the bucket. Of course, the Queen herself had the same deal, but there the similarity between the two heads of state ends. Queen Elizabeth II was extremely popular throughout her reign both inside Britain and abroad, becoming a much loved and respected figure across the globe. Her eldest child, King Charles III, is the brand-new British monarch, finally getting to the throne at the advanced age of 73. He has a tough act to follow.