The Yao Autonomous County of Bama is world-famous for the longevity of its people; many are

drawn there, fascinated, to have a look at these old folks.
According to national census data, in 1956 Bama had 15 centenarians; there were 18 in 1958,

50 in 1979, 72 in 1990, and 74 in 2004. The international standard for a "land of longevity"

is that there should be at least seven healthy centenarians per 100,000 population; in the

Yao Autonomous County of Bama there are 74 in a population of 240,000, making an average

30.8 per 100,000 -- nearly four and a half times the international standard.
Huang Buxin, 108 years old in 2005, had rosy cheeks and was hale and hearty. He showed us

how he had lived to a ripe old age through his own toil. Rising every morning at six, he

went to the fields to pick vegetables. The path from his home to the vegetable plot was wet,

slippery and muddy, but he walked steadily across the earth bank and down slopes. On the way

home he would wash the vegetables in the river. The steps on the fiver embankment were steep

-- over three meters high -- and had no railings. But that did not deter Huang, who walked

with strong and steady steps. After eating breakfast at seven, Huang started his daily

physical labor. We saw him carrying a bucket of water, about ten kilograms, walking

steadily. You would never imagine this man was 108 years old.