Li Fanyu, 78, a resident of Xinghualing district in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, never expected that she would meet China's premier in her humble home.

Nonetheless, Li's one-story house, a rundown home built in the 1950s, was where Premier Li Keqiang spent part of his first work day of the new year on Monday morning.

The shanty neighborhood, named Xiaobeiguan, houses 830 households like Li Fanyu's.