Zhang Chunxian, Party chief of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, showed off his Uygur language skills during the delegation's group discussion session that opened to media on March 7, although he admitted that he only knows one sentence, which is "Happy Corban Festival".

I learned in books that the ferocious-looking men of Kham are strong "warriors of Tibet", coming from the toughest tribe, wearing long hair and carrying long knives.

Being in an occupation that abounds with night owls, getting up before 6 am for more than 10 consecutive days is already quite a challenge. But this is just the beginning for reporters covering the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

There are moments that history will remember, and I've been fortunate to witness some of them during the past few days.

It is 20 years since I last worked at the annual two sessions as a photographer. I covered this national event for more than 10 consecutive years from the early 1980s.

This was not the first time I had seen NPC deputies and CPPCC members encircled by swarms of reporters trying to ask questions, because this scene often appears on TV, in newspaper stories or in online reports.

Caroline Puel, French magazine Le Point correspondent in Beijing, was surprised twice on Saturday at the press conference with China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

He is a ministerial head, unfailingly polite and always finds time to answer journalists' questions, no matter how difficult.

As a reporter covering China's space programs, I am always sensitive to any news reports about space, the same way a pregnant woman tends to notice other expecting women around her.

By no means am I a national legislator, but over the past decade I've been enjoying some of the "perks" of a lawmaker, like meeting at the Great Hall of the People in early March each year.

Although he will have left the political arena, one of the legacies of his premiership is that China is better able to face its challenges.

To smoke or not to smoke? That remains a question at the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a forum of China's elites.

Many Chinese have been inspired by new Party leader Xi Jinping's idea of the "China dream". The dream for many like Yang Cui who are from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds is to have opportunities to earn their daily bread, stand on their own two feet and live a decent life.

The press conference announcing the opening of the Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee seems different this year.

Some say that it's the Oscars of China's news conferences, but I disagree. The Oscars has many stars, while the premier's news conference has only one.