US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is impressed by China's relief work in the areas hit by the May 12 earthquake.

Rice met with quake survivors and toured a relief camp in Dujiangyan, one of the worst hit areas, during her four-hour visit to Sichuan province.

She said the American people had responded with sympathy to the quake victims.

The US government has offered cash and materials worth $2.6 million as quake relief, according to the Foreign Ministry, and Rice is the highest-ranking US official to visit Sichuan after the quake.

"We talk about US-China relations, we talk at the government level, but it is really the relations between the American people and the Chinese people that really make the difference," she said.

"I'm really impressed by the recovery effort. It is really a sign of how the human spirit can overcome great devastation."

She first visited the Dujiangyan Tengda sports club, reduced to rubble by the quake. It was a popular site with local people, and women used to practice dancing there.

The US secretary of state had some light moments too, feeding goldfish in a giant bowl in front of a couple's makeshift home.

Rice watched a Peking Opera performance at a cultural center, and talked with some children, whom she called "my friends".

"It is good to see people are recovering and going on with their lives, and children are studying and performing," she said before leaving Dujiangyan for Chengdu. She took off from the provincial capital of Sichuan for Beijing at 2 pm.

Rice will meet President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao today before flying home.