While the 17th party congress is a significant indicator of political fortunes, it also tells the story of how women are sadly sidelined in politics.
During the congress, the Great Hall of the People was packed with more than 2,000 elite party representatives - most of them middle-aged or elderly men in grey or black suits.
There were some women representatives in the crowd, mostly grass-roots representatives such as heads of neighbourhood committees, teachers or members of ethnic minorities, who sat through long hours of scripted speeches.
According to official figures, there were 445 women among the 2,214 representatives, making up about 20 per cent of the delegates. Still, most of these women representatives are not professional politicians or officials.
On the stage where the presidium sat, Vice-Premier Wu Yi stood out from the rest with her careful choice of outfits - baby blue and aqua-coloured skirts and jackets that distinguished her from the sea of grey suits and the background of red carpet and chairs.
Ms Wu, famous for her toughness in foreign trade negotiations and handling crises such as Sars, is an exception in mainland politics in that she made it to the top on her own. Unlike Jiang Qing , wife of Mao Zedong, and Soong Ching-ling, wife of Sun Yat-sen, she is not a first lady. And she wields much more clout than is traditionally held by women leaders.
