Xinhua Portraits | Senior People in China

The Double Ninth Festival, also known as Chongyang Festival in China, falls on Sunday this year. It is an occasion to care for and send blessings to the elderly throughout China.

BEIJING, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Editor's choice of Xinhua Portraits of Senior People in China.

Two newly-wedded couples pose for photo during a wedding ceremony at a nursing home in Luonan County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Oct. 15, 2019. (Xinhua/Tao Ming)

Zhang Liangui, 68, practices Taiji sword at the Temple of Heaven park in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 19, 2020.

For more than six consecutive years, Zhang has followed master Yang Shuqin to work out on traditional Chinese aerobics like Taijiquan, Taiji fan and Baduanjin. Benefiting from constant practice of the sports, Zhang's hypertension and hyperlipidaemia have been cured, and even his bad temper has changed.

Like Zhang, among the exercise group led by coach Yang Shuqin, most of the senior members have the similar experiences. Practicing traditional aerobics together not only has improved their physical condition significantly, but also enable them to make friends with others who have the same hobbies. (Xinhua/Meng Tao)

Elderly women attend a paper-cutting workshop organized by a local community in Fengtai District of Beijing, capital of China, March 8, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

A medical worker helps an elderly woman eat at Longhui-weiyuan hospital in Longhui County, central China's Hunan Province, Oct. 12, 2020.

The hospital set up the geriatric unit in 2010, which provides nursing, rehabilitation, entertainment and food services to elderly residents. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

Senior residents are accompanied on reading by volunteers at a nursing home in Yuyao, east China's Zhejiang Province, April 21, 2020.

Volunteers brought more than donated 100 books to the elderly living in the nursing home as the World Book Day approaches. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)

Elderly people that live alone enjoy the spring view with the company of volunteers in Linjia Village of Fenghua District in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 24, 2018. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

A senior resident(R) plays chess with a staff member at a nursing home in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

Sun Yiqing arranges costume for Liu Xingren during a contest of Huanglong music festival in Zhangjiajie, central China's Hunan Province, Aug. 14, 2018.

82-year-old Liu is a retired lawyer. He once organized an amateur chorus and orchestra. As a music enthusiast, Liu practices singing in his spare time. His wife Sun Yiqing, 76, is a retired teacher. Liu Xingren was accompanied on several singing contests in Beijing and Tianjin by his wife. The aged couple has a wish to continue to pursue their singing dream in the future. (Xinhua/Wei Hai)

Photo taken on July 28, 2020 shows Gu Dawo, an endurance sports enthusiast running in a forest park in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Gu Dawo, a 75-year-old Chinese grandpa, finished this year's Xiamen International Marathon with a remarkable time of 4 hours, 23 minutes and 45 seconds, which astonished many younger runners.

Having embarked on training for marathon at the age of 69, Gu finished his first half marathon in 2013. Since then, Gu has begun running numerous marathon events across China. In 2017, Gu showed up as the oldest-ever official pacer in Yinchuan International Marathon.

After swimming and cycling became parts of his daily fitness, Gu made attempts to train for triathlon, a multisport with three continuous and sequential endurance races. In 2017, he went to Chattanooga of Tennessee of the United States to compete in the Ironman 70.3. As the oldest one to complete the triathlon in the event, Gu was introduced to be from China in the award ceremony.

Gu Dawo wants to encourage the young to exercise more, and also correct their bias against the aged. "The age will not stop my heart and feet from running ahead." Gu said. (Xinhua/Jia Haocheng)

Cai Hongwen, a 65-year-old sports enthusiast, prepares to practice skiing at Beidahu ski field in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Xu Chang)

Villager Liang Anhe(R), 70, teaches his wife Liang Yingmi, 67, to write Chinese characters during a Mandarin training program in Wuying Village, a remote village inhabited by the Miao ethnic group where women over 40 have hardly ever attended any school, on the border between south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and southwest China's Guizhou Province, on Sept. 14, 2020.

Since March 2020, local authorities have piloted a Mandarin training program at Wuying Village as part of the local poverty alleviation efforts, employing college students to teach stay-at-home women Mandarin, music, dance and other skills.

So far, over 70 Mandarin training courses have taken place in Wuying. The number of students in the training courses has grown from 6 in the first class to nearly 30 now. To balance work and study, poverty-alleviation officials in the village have also set up after-school training centers, planting sorghum and raising fish along with local women. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

Sonam Drolma talks with her great granddaughters in the courtyard at home in Reguo Village of Gyaca County in Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, March 24, 2020.

Sonam Drolma is a 109-year-old villager in Reguo Village of Shannan. Since she was born, she has gone through half a century of twists and turns and sufferings as a serf. As a descendant of serfs, Sonam Drolma began to work for serf owners at the age of 15. Sonam served as a serf for 47 years, witnessing her parents and brother die at an early age because of the overwork and poor living conditions.

After the democratic reform, she owned the land, houses, cattle and sheep that she had never dreamed of. Since then, she never had to live the life being exploited and oppressed.

Then Sonam Drolma gave birth to her daughter.

After China's reform and opening up in early 1980s, Sonam Drolma's daughter Tsering Dzongpa picked up the baton of the family, going all out to make the family shake off poverty and have a well-off life by hard working. Sonam's family first contracted 11 mu (about 0.73 hectare) of land and seven walnut trees in the village. Then Tsering Dzongpa started to make a living by woolen weaving. Hard work brings rich returns. The family bought walking tractors, winnowing machines and other machinery one by one, and became the first family in the village to buy a car.

Nowadays, Sonam's family produces more than 5,000 kilograms of grain and 700 kilograms of walnuts annually. If taking the income of woolen weaving into account, the annual income of her family is close to 100,000 yuan (about 14,096 U.S. dollars). The family has expanded their houses for five times. In 2017, they even spent 540,000 yuan (about 76,118 U.S. dollars) to build a new house with an area of 520 square meters. (Xinhua/Zhan Yan)

Bai Jinqin, a 74-year-old bodybuilding adept, exercises at a gym in north China's Tianjin, March 13, 2019.

Bai has kept exercising for 14 years. After finishing her housework, Bai likes to spend one hour every day at the gym building her body. The hobby has rewarded her with good physique and energy. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

Little volunteers chat with a senior resident at a nursing home in Huai'an, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 2, 2020. (Photo by Wan Zhen/Xinhua)

An elderly man takes a rest in the ancient city of Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 12, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhao Ge)

Medical staff members provide therapy for the elderly at a local community in Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, Oct. 9, 2016. (Xinhua/Zhuang Wenbin)

Li Julong, 69, makes a teaching video about flute playing for senior residents living in the neighborhood of Fusi Community in Beijing, capital of China, April 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)

The elderly sing at the social welfare center in Wuyishan City, southeast China's Fujian Province, on Nov. 1, 2018.

In recent years, Wuyishan has explored the supporting mode for the aged in mountainous areas. Apart from perfecting facilities, considerate services were also provided to ensure a sound environment for their happy life. (Xinhua/Zhang Guojun)

Nyima, an inheritor of Jiuhe Zhuo dance, performs Jiuhe Zhuo dance in Jiuhe Village of Qonggyai County in Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 1, 2020.

Nyima, an inheritor of Jiuhe Zhuo dance, which is a national intangible cultural heritage, began to learn the dance from his father at the age of nine and has been dedicated to Zhuo dance performance for over 60 years. His performance once won a national award for folk arts.

After decades of study of the dance, Nyima has formed his unique style. Nyima has trained dozens of apprentices and formed a Zhuo dance performing team in Jiuhe Village. Now, young dancers of the team often perform in different places. The Zhuo dance has become an important approach to reducing poverty for local villagers. (Xinhua/Zhan Yan)

Senior resident Wang Yuhua (front) plays the piano as her husband Li Weiguang sings a song at a social welfare center in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Jan. 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)

An elderly villager sings with her fellows via WeChat on a smartphone in Palian Village of Tengchong, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Aug. 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)■