Laureen Harper, the wife of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has written an introduction to a new Mandarin translation of the classic Canadian story Anne of Green Gables.

Currently on tour of China with her husband, Harper is expressing her wish that the Chinese people will love Anne much as she did.

In 2007 Laureen Harper and her daughter Rachal posed with Laura Dunn, who was dressed as an Anne of Green Gables, in Charlottetown.In 2007 Laureen Harper and her daughter Rachal posed with Laura Dunn, who was dressed as an Anne of Green Gables, in Charlottetown. (CP)

Harper called the story as Canadian as the maple leaf, yet noted it is enjoyed all over the world because L. M. Montgomery's story and the characters transcend differences.

The main character Anne Shirley is someone everyone can recognize and love for her independent spirit and boundless imagination, she said.

Harper also put in a plug for Shirley's home province of P.E.I., exhorting readers visit the Island and see it for themselves.

Copies of the book were handed out at a tourism event in Beijing on Wednesday.