ASIA LETTER: At 73, Shen Jilan could pass for any grandmother on the street. But this farmer's wife from Shanxi Province is no ordinary granny.
Shen is the longest serving deputy to China's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC). This sprightly, energetic woman from Xiguo village has been representing Shanxi since the first NPC gathering in 1954, and has successfully contested each five-yearly NPC election since.
This week, Shen joined the other 3,000 NPC deputies from every corner of China in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing for the annual 10-day session of parliament.
Xigou is a poor mountain village with a population of 2,000. Shen was born in Xigou and raised her two sons and one daughter there. "My villagers have high hopes for me to represent them and make their voices heard," said Shen. "That is what I have been doing for the last 50 years." Shen's rise to national politics started after she was voted woman's leader in her village. From there, she was elected onto the local township congress, then to county and provincial level before getting her seat on the NPC.
When she is not busy as a politician, Shen works in the fields on her small family farm and recently she has planted fruit trees. Her cracked nails and rough hands are testament to her day job.
As well as being a hard working farmer, Shen is an entrepreneur, and runs two successful local enterprises in her village. One is a TV factory and the other is a nut juice production plant. In between her role as a politician, businesswoman, and farmer, she finds time for her grandson and granddaughter.
This year she has been lobbying for more roads and increased tree planting for her county. She has also raised local concerns about severe water drought, and at the high taxes being charged to farmers.
In between a break from one of the NPC debates, Shen proudly recalls that one of her greatest victories was winning equal payment rights for women in Shanxi some years ago. "This policy eventually spread to all of the country. Women all over China now can demand equal pay for work." When Shen attended her first NPC session she felt so intimidated she dared not speak.
Now a veteran, she talks on a range of subjects. This week she intends to raise her concern about the rampant corruption among Communist Party officials all over China. As an elected member of the NPC, Shen has the power to vote for State leaders and national laws, examine the State budget, and debate the nation's top public policies.
Well, that's the theory anyway. The reality is the NPC is a toothless legislature, and little more than a rubber-stamping machine. Most of China's policies and legislation are formulated and handled by the State Council and the Communist Party Central Committee. The NPC is certainly not the place for angry dissent.
The real power rests with the NPC standing committee, a 134-strong group that wields overall control over parliamentary activities. The former premier and NPC chief, Li Peng, chairs this committee - hardly China's leading reformer and a man closely associated with the events in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
This year's NPC session, which ends on Friday, does not look like it will throw up any shocks. Deputies are expected to approve the new budget, which includes a 17 per cent increase in military spending, and a significant increase in the budget deficit.
The fact that in its 48-year history the NPC has never rejected a proposal, anything less than an 80 per cent majority vote represents a slap in the face for the leadership.
The nearest delegates came to revolt was last year when one-third voted against the Government plan to tackle corruption on the basis that it did not go far enough. Cynics said the one-third vote against was carefully masterminded by the authorities, keen to show the outside world that there was indeed freedom of expression.
To be fair, between annual sessions, the congress is increasingly involved in formulating and amending legislation, rather than simply approving it. This reflects the growing diversity in the NPC membership with representatives now drawn from a wider pool, including private entrepreneurs, reform-minded academics, and ordinary people such as Shen.
She rejects the notion that the NPC is a toothless body, and is keen to hear about the Irish political system. She is impressed that the ratio of women deputies in China, one in five, is higher than in Dáil Éireann.
Shen's dream is that one day China will have a woman leader.
China, she argues, is becoming more democratic with direct elections at village level. But change, she warns, must come slowly.
"Every person in my village had a vote as to who should be the delegate at the provincial people's congress. Then at the provincial level I was voted onto the National People's Congress. Is that not democracy?" she asked.
Meanwhile, age is not going to stop this determined grandmother from continuing to represent the people of Xinguo village. "As long as they want me, I will be there for them," she says.