THE Double Ninth Festival is one of the oldest folk festivals in China, with more than 3,500 years of history.

In the past several decades, it has been enjoying something of a revival under the aegis of a celebration promoting care and respect for senior citizens.

The festival falls on September 9 of the lunar calendar, which is October 21 this year on the Gregorian calendar.

Chongyang, the Chinese name of the festival, means “double yang” and comes from the “Book of Changes.” In the book, the numeral nine is defined as “the number of extreme yang.”

The earliest record of the festival appeared in “Lu’s Spring and Autumn Annals,” which was written around 239 BC. In the book, the day was described as one where people should offer sacrifices and harvests to the heavens.

The festival didn’t take on its more modern trappings until a few centuries later. It evolved into a day marked by people taking long walks, wearing branches of Cornelian cherries, eating Chongyang cakes made from glutinous rice and osmanthus, and drinking chrysanthemum wine. The traditions revolved around tributes to health and longevity.

The festival became a favorite theme for many poets. In the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), at least seven well-known poets wrote verse about the festival. Some of them mused on friendship; others talked about the disappointment when dreams are crushed.

In 1989, the State Council, China’s cabinet, designated the Double Ninth Festival as the nation’s official Seniors’ Day, building on the longevity aspect of festival traditions.

Today, the festival is marked by children visiting their elderly parents and bringing them Chongyang cakes or taking them on walks. Neighborhood committees and nursing homes stage special events with performances, food and presents.

The Double Ninth Festival might also be viewed nowadays as a reason to celebrate the achievements of retired people who haven’t really stopped contributing to society. Many retirees have become volunteers, deploying their talent and experience to help others.

Shanghai Daily interviewed several of the retirees.

Zheng Zhi, 80

Before retirement, Zheng Zhi was a teacher. He moved to Minhang in 1999 and has become a volunteer tutor and psychology consultant in the district.

He is particularly interested in helping children get through tough patches in their lives. Among those he has helped is Zhou Jiaying, who became depressed at age nine when her father was sentenced to 10 years in prison for assault.

“Before retirement, I participated in helping a lot of students with problems, but this was the first time I tried to help such a young child,” said Zheng.

He started with regular visits to the girl’s home, bringing her books, toys and snacks. He never pushed her to pour out her feelings to him. Rather, he just listened to whatever she wanted to talk about.

After several visits, the girl did begin to open up. Zheng and his wife became regular visitors to her home, helping with her study for the junior high school entrance examination.

Zhou today is a student at Qibao No. 2 High School, and she is no longer living in the shadow of her father.

Zheng is also a frequent visitor at area schools, where he helps other volunteers produce psychology-related dramas for students.

“I know that at my age, my time is counting down,” he said. “But because of that, I cherish the time I still have left to try to help others.”

Zhao Miaojuan, 63

Working for the district’s educational authorities, retiree Zhao Miaojuan works with law offenders. Her job is to help prisoners break from their criminal pasts and find confidence in a new life.

Since she is not allowed to visit her “students” frequently, she writes to them or talks to them on the phone. Weekends, she peruses bookstores for inspirational material.

“It is not as hard as I thought to communicate with them,” she said. “They actually are eager to have help and find a new life after release.”

The biggest difficulty, she said, is often with prisoners’ families. Zhao cited the case of an 18-year-old woman sentenced to two years in prison for theft.

“From our talks, I discovered that she hated her father,” said Zhao. “Her parents were divorced when she was young and she lived with her father. Their relationship was beyond awful.”

Zhao managed to track down the man.

“In his eyes, his daughter was a lazy, greedy, ill-tempered liar, and he really wanted nothing to do with her,” she said. “But that’s not how I regarded this woman. There was a complete break of understanding between them.”

With concerted efforts over a long period, the father eventually agreed to welcome his daughter home when she was released.

“The only thing I can do often is to help prisoners retrieve love and respect that they have lost,” Zhao said. “It’s a key way to start a new life after they pay for their mistakes.”

Wang Shijie, 70

Before retirement, Wang Shijie, a major in archeology, was a researcher at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. In the last five years of his career, he started to do science popularization projects for the museum, which also inspired his activities after retirement.

Wang has established a workshop at his home, where he is experimenting with drama performances utilizing science themes.

“When I was young, I worked as a scriptwriter for a drama group for a while, and I have never lost interest in that endeavor,” said Wang.

His scripts, especially a drama about people fighting against polluting factories, have been well received among college students who have performed them.

Apart from science popularization, Wang started another volunteer project providing running commentary on movies to blind people in cinemas.

He and his wife Xu Fengming write out transcripts of the movies, describing the scenes, and the appearances and actions of actors. The scripts are read aloud while the movie is playing.

In the past six years, these commentaries have helped more than 2,000 people enjoy movies more fully. The project now involves 100-plus volunteers and 10 cinemas.

“I help people, and I receive a lot of help from people,” said Wang. “That really warms my heart.”

Chen Yongfen, 73

Chen was a school administration worker before retirement. Now she teaches handicrafts at a community Sunny Home, an institute that helps mentally handicapped people under the age of 35.

“Actually, I wasn’t familiar with crochet or origami before the volunteer work,” she admitted. “I first had to study the arts on the Internet and practice a lot before trying to teach them to the students.”

Chen has endless patience and never tires of having to repeat her instructions over and over when necessary.

“Many of the students don’t remember my name, but they know that I once taught them handicrafts, and they wave when they see me at Sunny Home,” she said. “That really makes me feel proud.”

Chen also serves as a volunteer inspector for her neighborhood committee. Her usual assignment is to ferret out environmental problems.

“It’s just trivial things sometimes, like trash not being properly disposed of or greenery that needs more maintenance,” said Chen. “But it makes a big difference to people when they see their surroundings are tidy.”