Flags lowered today in final farewell to Li Keqiang

Sorrowful Cheng Hong, widow of the former premier, Li Keqiang, was in grief at the mourning hall in their home, while the remains of Li are to be cremated in Beijing today.

This comes as the Hong Kong government said the national and regional flags will be flown at half-staff at the government headquarters, government house, and all boundary control and checkpoints today, as a token of mourning for Li.

National flags around the country and at Chinese embassies and consulates overseas will also fly at half-staff to pay tribute to the ex-premier today.

Photos circulating online have shown a mourning hall with a banner saying "deeply mourning for Comrade Keqiang" and a photo of Li, which is believed to be at Li's home.

There was also a flower wreath sent by Li's wife Cheng and his family members, with a note saying: "You will always live in our hearts."

Photos, from unknown sources, showed mourners bidding farewell to Li and visiting Cheng wearing black clothes and a white flower on her chest.

Cheng, 65, is a literary scholar and translator, as well as an English professor at the Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing. She and Li got married in 1983 and have one daughter.

She was born in 1957 and admitted to the People's Liberation Army University of Foreign Language in 1977 before pursuing further study at Tsinghua University in 1982.

She met Li in 1982 and married him the following year.

After graduation, Cheng began teaching and also visited the United States as a visiting scholar. She translated a lot of American literature after returning to China, including "Return to the Wilderness," "Wake-Robin," and "The Outermost House and Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place."

The couple was separated for nearly 10 years when Li was appointed to work in Henan province from 1998 to 2007.

Both Cheng and Li have a good command of English and it is understood that the couple would talk to each other in English at home.

Cheng also accompanied Li on various official visits, including Li's trip to Ethiopia, Nigeria, Angola, and Kenya in 2014.

In September 2016, Cheng also accompanied Li to Canada, visiting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and engaged in chit-chat with Trudeau and his wife at their home.

Li, a former economist and politician who served as premier for a decade between 2013 and 2023, died of a heart attack in Shanghai last Friday at the age of 68.

Li's remains were transferred to Beijing on the same day, Xinhua news agency said.

"He was extolled as an excellent Communist Party of China member, a time-tested and loyal communist soldier, and an outstanding proletarian revolutionist, statesman, and leader of the party and the state," Xinhua said.

Born in Anhui province in eastern China, Li was first elected as premier in 2013 and re-elected in 2018, during which he advocated for market-oriented reform and anti-poverty programs.