Appearances at the two sessions certainly can be deceiving
Zhang Hengzhen was the first national political adviser I met when I started covering the ongoing two sessions.
She was on a sofa, being interviewed by a TV reporter when I saw her. Wearing glasses and with a slim figure, she spoke in a low voice, smiling all the time.
Her gentle appearance resembled many teachers I’ve seen. She must be a teacher, I thought. I was curious about who she is, so I took a seat and searched her name using my phone. I soon found how wrong I was.
How could she be a skilled worker? I asked myself.
As the result showed, she is a technician and has been working as a blue-collar worker for more than two decades.
My mistake made me cautious and I hesitated in making a guess when another female political adviser came to talk with Zhang. My curiosity about what she does, however, surprised me a second time.
The second woman, Zhong Zhengju, works with machine tools. She uses electric drills every day at a machinery plant, as another search revealed.
This is not the end of the story. After talking with my colleagues and interviewees, I finally realized that my presumptions see Chinese women as working in limited occupations, such as teaching.
Ma Quanlin, also a political adviser and head of the Gansu Desert Control Research Institute, told me that his team often has to sleep in simple tents while conducting field work.
Due to water shortages, they take water only for drinking and cooking. Often, they couldn’t shower or bathe for more than 10 days. Even under such harsh conditions, his female colleagues never hesitate to volunteer for the team with their male counterparts.
One of my colleagues covering scientific affairs also was surprised when he found at least four female space scientists among the political advisers.
And I could continue listing excellent female members of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and female deputies to the 13th National People’s Congress.
Chinese women deserve applause from all of us. They have been playing a greater role in China’s development, contributing their wisdom and hard work.
The proportion of women in the CPPCC National Committee and the NPC has increased significantly.
This year, 20.4 percent of national political advisers are women, up 7 percent compared with 25 years ago. It is the first time the proportion has exceeded 20 percent.
For the top legislature, the proportion has increased by 1.5 percentage points from the last term, which began in 2013, reaching a record of about 25 percent.
Although the number of women taking part in the two sessions is still relatively low, I believe that with a progressing society Chinese women will enjoy a rising political and social status. And next time, when I meet a female lawmaker or political adviser, I’ll not try to guess her career, based on appearance.