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Most days when she wakes up early in the morning, 101-year-old grandmother Yuzhoin takes a small kettle of buttered tea with her and walks around a stupa in her village singing Buddhist sutras.
Yuzhoin, who lives in Lhamu Village of Zhangdo Township in Dagze County, is one of 116 centenarians in the Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China.
"I have never used a pen in my life," she says. "I've just used spades and I know when to plant crops and when to harvest."
But Yuzhoin does not know that she and a select group of seniors have combined to set a record for Tibet -- the number of centenarians has increased from 57 in 1991 to 116 -- the highest number in its thousands of years of history.
There are 64 centenarians in every 10 million people in China, while the ratio in Tibet is an amazing 440 centenarians to 10 million people, making it one of highest in China.
Research shows that all of the centenarians in Tibet are native Tibetans who are used to the high altitude, do physical labour and have a routine life. They are regarded as optimistic and easy-going.
The progress of medical treatment and sanitation services and an endowment insurance system in recent years have made it easier for Tibetans to realize their dream of living longer.
The average life expectancy is now 67 years old, compared with 36 about five decades ago.
Statistics show the government has allocated 1.8 billion yuan (US$216 million) to develop medical and health services in Tibet in the past decades.
The majority of townships and villages have established cooperative medical institutions, with State-granted medical allowance to farmers and herdsmen exceeding 20 million yuan (US$2.4 million) annually.
By the end of last year, the government had paid 287 million yuan (US$34.57 million) in endowment insurance.
(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2002)
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