usually a combination of business and pleasure. Her Royal Highness has made more than a dozen trips to China, where she is very popular and also fluent in the Chinese language. Last year the princess made an official visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan. While there, Her Royal Highness was awarded the Dostyk(Friendship) Order Second Class, She also visited several cities, museums and historical sites, On May 24 last year, Her Royal High ness was in the United States where she received an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters from Edgewood Col lege in Wisconsin. This was followed on May 26 by being conferred an honorary degree from Johns Hopkins University In August, the princess once again vis- ited Germany(she is also fluent in the German language). There she learned about the tsunami early warning system developed in Germany Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn received the Indira Gandhi Award for Peace, Development and Disarmament on November 19, 2005, for her devotion to advancing the welfare of the less fortunate". At the award pre sentation, India's Prime Minister said: "Her life and work prove that she is a great