Shen Jilan, right, a deputy to China's 12th NPC, leaves the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in March last year. [Photo/Xinhua]

The "fossil"

Shen Jilan is the longest serving deputy to the NPC. The 84-year-old has been a deputy since the first meeting in 1954. The president of China was then Chairman Mao Zedong and current president, Xi Jinping, was only a year old. Shen once proudly claimed she had never voted against any motions during her half-century on the NPC , which has intrigued critics among the public. She was given the nickname 'living fossil' by Internet users for her long service.