But instead of depositing the money in the bank, she wrapped it up in a plastic bag and stored it in a wooden drawer in her house, according to the state-run CCTV channel.
The unlucky lady, whose identity has not been released, only realised her cash had been munched through by termites in April when she opened the drawer to take out some money to pay for decorating work.
In a panic, she took the banknotes - which had all been damaged - to a local bank in the hope that they could be still identified.
After several rounds of scanning and comparing, the bank managed to verify around £35,000.
However, that means the old lady has still lost 15% of her savings.
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