Reshuffled personal secretary Ling Jihua rose to power with Hu Jintao
Ling Jihua started out in the youth league with Hu Jintao, and rose to power as his personal secretary
Around midnight, an observer privileged enough to gain access to the secretive General Office of the Communist Party's Central Committee in Beijing would often find the lights on in the office recreation room.
Inside, one of the country's most powerful but least-known men would likely be engaged in something of a ritual: playing table tennis. After a long day, Ling Jihua liked to release some stress with a late-night match - and Ling had his share of stress.
As chief of the General Office and President Hu Jintao's personal secretary until last week, Ling oversaw many of the affairs of Beijing's highest leaders, from their paperwork to their doctor's appointments to, perhaps most importantly, their security. Ling was on Saturday reshuffled to lead the party's United Front Work Department.
At first, Ling's subordinates found his nightly ping-pong sessions endearing, something that humanised his demanding work ethic. That was, until they realised that he usually intended to return to his desk after match point.
"Ling never gets rest," one of his subordinates said. "He always works until midnight and plays table tennis for about half an hour. In the beginning, we thought: 'That's the end of a long day'. But then he comes back to the office and works for another few hours."