Chicken and chatting prove keys to long life
Print Edition
REGULAR exercise and a tasty bowl of chicken soup are the keys to a long and healthy life, local centenarian Zhou Baogen said yesterday.
At 109 years young, Zhou was guest of honor at the annual longevity awards organized by the Shanghai Gerontological Society to recognize the city’s 10 oldest people.
Though Zhou is far from being the oldest person in Shanghai — that title is held by 116-year-old Li Suqing, who lives with her daughter and son-in-law in the Pudong New Area, but was unable to attend yesterday’s event — he has to be one of the sprightliest members of the 100-plus club.
“I still do my exercises and have plenty of strength in my hands,” he said as he climbed the steps to the stage with only the aid of a walking stick to collect his certificate.
His bright eyes and clear speech belied his advanced age.
“My father likes chatting with his neighbors every morning and is always in a happy mood,” Zhou’s son Zhou Guanchang, himself a septuagenarian, told Shanghai Daily.
“His favorite food is chicken soup, because he doesn’t like anything too spicy, he said, adding that his dad still does his own laundry and seldom gets sick.
Sun Pengbiao, secretary-general of the Gerontological Society, said that while yesterday’s event was held to celebrate longevity, it was also an opportunity to highlight the challenges faced by the city’s oldest people and their families.
“We have to remember that most of the children of the centenarians we are celebrating here today are themselves in their 70s and 80s,” he said.
It is therefore the responsibility of not only relatives, or the government, but of society as a whole to care for its senior citizens, he said.
According to official figures, the number of centenarians living in Shanghai at the end of last year was 1,631, an increase of 16 percent on a year earlier.
The 75-year-old daughter of Li Suqing told Shanghai Daily yesterday that her mother believes the secret to a long life is maintaining a youthful outlook.
“She loves playing with the local children and even watches cartoons with them,” she said.
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