Dispelling the myth of ‘longevity counties’
Print Edition
NANTONG in east China’s Jiangsu Province has been named “Capital of Longevity” by the International Nature and Medicine Association thanks to the number of centenarians it boasts.
The city, which has a great natural environment, is home to 1,031 centenarians, or 14 per 100,000 people, said Morishita Keiichi, president of the INMA. It also has hundreds of thousands of people who are likely to live past 100, he said.
In recent years, more and more authorities across the country have been trumpeting their records on longevity, hoping that by doing so they will attract more visitors and fuel economic growth.
The central government has formally recognized more than 40 “longevity counties,” and each of them is luring floods of tourists.
Bama in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is one of the most visited. Stories of its “living legends” have spread across the country and enticed people hoping to find an elixir for a long life.
But last year, local media outlets reported the ignorance of longevity pilgrims to Bama, some of whom “crawl like dogs” and drink urine while there, believing such practices will help to keep illness at bay.
While the influx of visitors does contribute to economic growth, it’s not all good news.
Zhao Baohua, deputy director of the Gerontological Society of China, said that as the number of elderly citizens has grown, social security systems have failed to keep up. The problem is particularly acute in the longevity counties.
“These centenarians enjoy cleaner air and water, but their quality of life remains low in economic and psychological terms,” Zhao said. Many old people without spouses or who have lost their children are in fact leading miserable lives.
Even in places like Nantong, where economic conditions are better than in many counties, people’s quality of life still lags behind that of developed countries, Zhao said.
Ironically, the huge influx of visitors might be making things worse, as they carry illness and disease.
About 180,000 people visited Bama in 2012, creating a scare among residents about disease transmission, said Chen Jinchao, head of the Guangxi Bama Longevity Research Institute.
Zheng Bingwen, from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said local governments should improve their social security systems to ensure a decent quality of life for elderly people.
“They should focus on improving people’s livelihoods and emotional well-being,” Zheng said.
Chen said, however, that “people should develop a better understanding of what keeping healthy is really about instead of swarming to so-called longevity counties.”
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