Fifty fourth-graders from Cascade Elementary School in Orem, Utah, in the western United States, said they were elated when President Xi Jinping replied recently to the Happy Chinese New Year cards they sent him.

"Cool! I can invite President Xi to eat doughnuts if he visits Utah," said Sarah, 9, while some of her classmates said they'd rather invite him to some of the state's renowned slopes to enjoy some snow-skiing.

"We are so proud. It's big news here," said Marci Nichols, a Cascade Elementary School office secretary.

The idea of writing to the Chinese president came from those students and was supported by their Mandarin teacher, Zheng Yamin, who also gives lectures on Chinese culture and festivals at the Salt Lake City Public Library in Utah's capital.

"I love the kids," she said. "They are so eager to learn and love many things about Chinese culture."

Their favorite things? "Pandas," she laughed. "And jiaozi (dumplings)."

She suggested they become pen pals with people in China as a way to apply their Chinese language skills to real-life situations, an idea they embraced.

"I was very surprised when the kids suggested writing 'to someone really important', like President Xi!" she said.

Days before Spring Festival, her students wrote Chinese New Year greeting cards to Xi in Chinese, telling him about their Chinese language studies and personal hobbies, and expressed their love for Chinese culture and their hope for a chance to visit China.

Everyone was astonished when Xi wrote back.

"Dear Boys and Girls," his letter said. "I am so happy to get the lovely cards from you on Chinese New Year. I have read them all. Thank you for the wonderful thoughts."

In his reply letter dated Feb 15, Xi told the children that like the US, China is a big country, that Chinese civilization has a history of more than 5,000 years and that the Chinese people are as warmhearted and friendly as the American people.

"I've been to the US multiple times, but not yet to Utah. I hope there will be an opportunity for me to be there and, if so, to visit you all in person," the president said, adding that he is also fond of reading and sports.

"It's an amazing thing for our students to get a personal letter from the president of China," Principal Darrin Johnson said. "President Xi said he hopes to visit us here one day, but we also hope to follow up with a visit by our students to China next year so they can see for themselves how interesting and beautiful China is.

"I think it's a great honor. The Chinese president is incredibly busy, running a country and dealing with the new coronavirus."

In his letter, Xi also praised the children for their Chinese language skills, including being able to write Chinese characters so beautifully.

"By learning it, you may know more about Chinese history and culture," Xi's letter said. "I hope you will keep at it, make even bigger progress and become young 'ambassadors' for Sino-US friendship.

"I wish you all happiness, health and progress in the new year. You're most welcome to visit China," the letter concluded.

Utah is a sparsely populated state but known for an emphasis on education. Twelve years ago, state lawmakers created a comprehensive language immersion program for the entire public-school system featuring several languages, including Mandarin.

The program starts with first-graders at about age 6 and runs all the way through high school seniors, who usually are 18 years old when they graduate.

"They were ahead of their time," Johnson said of Utah officials and public school administrators. "And the immersion program is run in an exciting and fun way."

For half a day, students studying Mandarin are taught every subject in that language and then they switch to English.

Zheng keeps her students up to date on current events and the school recently posted a video on its Facebook page of the children singing a song that sends their best wishes to the citizens of Wuhan, epicenter of the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak, for their heroism.

"We love our Chinese immersion program. We wish the people of China our best. We hope that you are able to overcome the virus quickly," Cascade Elementary School wrote recently on the school's page.

Cascade Elementary, established in 1967, was one of the first schools in Utah to offer a Chinese immersion program, which involves more than half its students. The state's Chinese immersion program began in 2009 and is now available in 76 elementary and secondary schools.

Students at Cascade Elementary School in Orem, Utah, in the United States, show a poster they made in February to support China's fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.