ACCLAIMED actress Qin Yi is 89 years young and looking forward to her 90th birthday, but it's still clear why then Premier Zhou Enlai called her "the most beautiful woman in China." She's still elegant and articulate. Her back is straight, her eyes clear and lively.

Always a patriot, Qin got her first role in 1938 when she was 16 years old, part of the Zhongwan Troupe in Chongqing, which was China's capital for much of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45). She had only four lines in the heroic stage play "Long Live China" but she worked hard and the director noticed her.

She went on to star on stage and on screen, becoming one of the four most famous screen actresses of the time, along with Bai Yang, Shu Xiuwen and Zhang Ruifang.

She is best-known for films such as "Remote Love" (1946), "Woman Basketball Player No.5" (1957) and "Song of Youth" (1959), which cemented her fame.

At the age of 88 she had a role in "Kids in Shanghai," which encourages children of migrant workers to stay upbeat.

"During the war I was eager to rush to the front lines, but then I recognized that acting on stage is another kind of contribution," she told Shanghai Daily in a recent interview. And contributing, on stage and in person, is what she has done for her entire life.

These days she's revising a script and says her dream is to write the script for a film in which she also plays a role.

Today the Shanghai native is in the spotlight again with the opening in her Minhang District home of the Art Museum of Qin Yi, a celebration of her life and times. It is located in the Linyuan Garden of Zhaojialou Old Town.

The 350-square-meter building is filled with costumes, props, her favorite books and items from her daily life and long career. A screening rooms shows her films.

Film seminars will be held and young directors and artists will be invited. Stage dramas will also be performed.

The museum is the first in China dedicated to a living performing artist. Museum director Tong Ruimin, who worked with Qin over the years, came up with the idea. He calls her "an extraordinary performer with a noble heart."

Qin said she hopes the museum will be a place where people can sip a cup of tea, watch films and chat.

She looks far younger than her age. She's graceful and energetic, enthusiastic about her museum.

"I always encourage myself to be optimistic and keep my back straight despite my age. I can still make contributions to society," she said.

Qin, whose birth name was Qin Dehe, was born into a wealthy family in Shanghai in 1922. She is a descendant of Qin Yubo (1295-1373), a well-known Yuan Dynasty civil servant, who was born in what is today's Minhang District. Qin Yubo is also worshipped as the god of Shanghai enshrined in the City God Temple in downtown Yuyuan Garden.

She performed in stage plays while she was a student at the Shanghai Zhonghua College of Vocational Technology. She joined the China Film Studio in 1938. Her first film was "Good Husband" (1939) - 72 years ago.

Since 1946, she mainly starred in movies in Shanghai and "Remote Love" (1946) directed by Chen Liting was a hit.

She starred in more than 30 films and dramas and has won a raft of awards, such as the Golden Eagle award, known as Chinese Emmy Awards, for best actress in 1983 (she had a comeback in the 1980s); she has won various lifetime achievement awards.

In "Song of Youth" (1959) she touched the nation's heart with her melodramatic portrayal of a young woman with a sad and poor childhood, forced to marry a rich official, driven to attempt suicide, but rescued by a university student she later married. Life got better, she became a teacher, joined revolutionary movements and protested against the Japanese invasion.

Because of her own experience, Qin is known for playing mothers, in films such as "Mother" (1949) and "Thunderstorm" (1985). While filming "Thunderstorm," she learned her hospitalized second husband was dying. At night she nursed him and during the day she rushed to the film set.

"Only when performers treasure life and have a profound understanding of life, can they truly reach their audience," she said, referring to life experience. "We shouldn't calculate our gains and losses, but concentrate on work."

Qin was known as a consummate actress, perfectly portraying the emotions of various characters, notably mothers. But she is humble.

"I know I am not talented, therefore, I have to work even harder," she said.

Though she is radiant today and her career is celebrated, her personal life in many ways was sad.

Her first marriage ended in divorce because her husband beat her when he was drunk; she has a daughter from that marriage. Her second husband, actor Jin Yan, crowned the film emperor of China, was injured in a debilitating accident and she cared for him at home until his death in 1983.

Her son, Jin Jie, was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his teens. He was a gifted painter and mother and son were very close. But sometimes in episodes, he flew into a rage and beat her. She begged him not to strike her face - "If my face is hurt, I cannot work," she told him. In sizzling weather, she wore long-sleeved shirts to hide the bruises on her arms. She would take him to sets with her so she could keep an eye on him.

Despite his illness, Jin was her sunshine and support. She washed his hair, helped him bathe and change his clothes.

"Even when he was over 50 years old, he was still my little boy, who created joy in my life," she said. "He was a child with great love, and I didn't treat him as a patient."

When there was a charity art auction to help mentally disabled children, Jin eagerly created paintings for the event.

In 2000 actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger paid US$25,000 for one of Jin's paintings at a charity auction, telling the media that he was moved by Jin's talent and by his mother's devotion. The painting depicted Hengshan Park. Schwarzenegger said he "adored" Qin as an actress and called her a great mother who did a lot for her son.

Jin died when he was 59 years old - Qin was 85.

Qin has placed photographs of her son and his paintings in her sitting room and there are posters of characters from animated films - a lively setting. And it's made livelier by the visits of some of the people who once played Qin's children in films, and still call her "mother."

"I don't feel lonely," Qin said.

She keeps busy and keeps learning as an artist. "There's always something worth learning," she said.

Every day she reads newspapers for a couple of hours and said she's interested in politics, business, culture and international news.

In 2008 she donated 210,000 yuan (US$32,300) for victims of the Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province. It was almost her entire savings.

She never made a TV commercial or endorsed a product.

"I am not familiar with the products," she said, "and I don't want to exaggerate."

"I know I should begin counting the days of my life," the actress said, "but I still have a lot of things to do."