In the remote and mountainous Bama County of southwest China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the 2000 census recorded 74 centenarians, a surprisingly large number considering the total population is only 238,000. The ratio of centenarians is 30.8 per 100,000, far exceeding the international standard of 25 per 100,000 for “hometowns of longevity” — centenarian-clustered areas recognized by the International Natural Medicine Society. 90-year-olds in the region total 293, or 123.1 per 100,000, also a noticeably high proportion.
With decades of research, experts have been surprised to find that the ratio of centenarians has not fallen over the past years, while other “hometowns of longevity” all over the world have experienced a tendency for numbers to decline with the invasion of industrialization and modernization. Why Bama remains immune to the phenomenon has caught worldwide attention. Studies have proven that the longevity of the centenarians in Bama is not the product of a mysterious force but is actually the result of long-lasting interactions between many different elements in their lifestyle, heredity, and environment.
Bama County, with a surface area of 1, 976 square kilometers, is inhabited by the different Chinese ethnic groups of Yao, Han and Zhuang. Longevity has a long tradition in the region. During the Jiaqing Reign in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the emperor once presented a poem to a 142-year-old man of Yao Ethnic Minority. In December 1898 during the Guangxu Reign, the emperor awarded a horizontal board, inscribed with “Only the benevolent lives to a ripe old age”, to Deng Chengcai, a centenarian from Natao Village. Today the board has been maintained and well preserved.
Natural Conditions
Located at the 24th parallel of North Latitude and 107 degrees East Longitude, Bama is found at the interface of a semi-tropical and a tropical zone. The average temperature is 20.5 degree Celsius with lowest annual average of 16.9 and highest of 25.9, which is an ideal condition for human existence.
The average annual humidity is 79%. Abundant rainfall throughout the year also contributes to the high ratio of negative ion in the air, which ranges from 2,000 to 5,000 in per cubic centimeter. These levels are work perfectly to strengthen resistance to disease, advance metabolism, alleviate bronchial asthma and stabilize blood pressure.
Meanwhile, the county also has the benefit of being nestled in the picturesque mountains, free from the harm of industrial pollution and chaotic development.
Huang Kele, a 107-year-old farmer still cuts firewood in the mountain, and dislikes the occasional necessary sojourn in the city. In 2000, he went to Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to attend a feast held for the centenarians, and he didn’t like the environment and the way people live in the city, “I don’t feel well breathing the air in the city. It’s too stuffy and makes me uncomfortable. ”
Mysterious Microelements
The topography of Bama is in typical Karst style with many mountains and little earth. This condition makes the agriculture-based economy very harsh. Because of this unfavorable natural condition, people have always had to work hard in order to survive. However, the same Karst topography that hampers the growth of plants may have contributed to longevity of humans. Scientific research shows that a great variety of microelements can be found in the earth surface and water in Bama, these elements make their way to the human body through food. Some of these elements play a vital role for human’s health and viability.
Peng Yingao, an expert geriatrist from Xinjiang University noted, “to understand the longevity phenomenon in Bama, it must be noted that the role of microelements is very important. Almost all the microelements held in the water and earth in Bama are the most important for the human body. And the elements that are not needed for human bodies, like cuprum, are found in a very low proportion.”
Bama boasts a number of renowned fountains that hold a great amount of minerals and microelements. In Minan Village, 12 km to the southeast of Bama County, nestles the Minan Fountain, which has the strongest flow of naturally drinkable mineral water in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Surprisingly local masonry may also have some magic effects. Traditionally, walls are constructed of rammed bricks made from the earth that contains the beneficial elements. People living in these houses may unknowingly benefit from the radioactive energy in the wall.
Surveys show that the food centenarians eat has a rich variety of elements essential for the human body. A normal diet includes staple food like corn, rice, millet, sweet potato, soybean, snailflower bean and green soybeans. The main vegetables eaten by the centenarians are pumpkin seedlings, sweet potato leaves, pakchoi, mushroom, agaric and bamboo shoots. The oil they use is mainly colza oil. Meat mainly consists of local pig, goat, chicken and ducks. However, vegetables rather than meat are the major components of the food in the region. Similarly the food is mostly low in fat and will not accumulate excessive amounts of energy in the body, a factor which is also essential for longevity.
A Healthy Way of Life
Bama people are known for being hardworking. Even senior citizens in their nineties and above still work restlessly and exercise everyday. The mountainous condition poses great obstacles for local transportation. Due to this inconvenience, local people usually have to travel on foot, but the age-old practice has fostered strong character and physique among the people, contributing to the outstanding longevity.
Huang Jiaying, a 106-year-old grandma is very much respected in Suolue Village. She is always willing to offer her help to the fellow villagers who are living under the same harsh conditions. Meanwhile, she keeps working everyday. “It makes me very uncomfortable and a bit stuffy to quit working for even one day.”
Leading a simple but regular life, people there share the same open and optimistic character. The tradition of respecting the old has also helped to form an easy and cozy atmosphere. In their spare time, there are no frequent dinner parties of excessive meat and wine in Bama as in the modern world, and the elderly prefer to relax by singing folk songs.
In recent years, the local government has begun to issue subsidies and conducted regular medical checkups for the centenarians.
A Human Body More Durable Than Wood
According to the local custom, the children of a elderly local more than 60 years old should prepare a coffin. However, many old people in Bama are still fit and healthy even when the coffins prepared for them have long decayed away.
Huangmameijin, a 105-year-old centenarian of Zhuang ethnic minority from Pingan Village, now faces this problem. Her coffin, made in 1958, is falling to pieces upon her touch. “My body seems to be stronger than this trashy wood.” She joked.
A waiting coffin is usually used for the storage of various grains like corn. The 116-old-year-old Pan Nieya from Ganshui Village witnessed the decay of four coffins built for her. When she finally left this world, she was lying in her fifth coffin.
Breaking the Chain of “ Silk Road Longevity”
The longevity hometowns all over the world which have been acknowledged by experts are respectively located in Xinjiang, northwest China, Pakistan, Caucasia in Russia and Ecuador. Experts seem to have found a regular pattern that all of these sites are generally located along the ancient “Silk Road”. But the discovery of Bama has broken the longevity chain along the “Silk Road”.
More amazingly, experts have found that the decline of longevity widely seen in other longevity hometowns has not appeared here. One of the major reasons contributing to this phenomenon is that Bama has not been invaded by modern civilization and keeps its traditional diet.
A unique plan to build a tourist park inhabited by the elderly has been proposed in Bama. But it immediately sparked debate as some fear such “longevity tourism” might threaten the traditional long life of the citizens. “The introduction of modern culture may threaten the longevity chain here,” said Keichi Morishita, president of the International Natural Medicine Society.
source: chinaculture.org
