Grandmothers who rap, septuagenarians who sing, video game fans in their eighties. They have come to challenge traditional conceptions of aging in China

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A 65-year-old woman bends down in a field and picks up a cabbage. Behind her, two friends swing from one side to the other, with cucumbers and radishes in their hands. "This rotten cabbage, you have to take it out, eat it, get some food freedom," raps Guo Yifen, the Cabbage Woman, in a gravelly, squeaky voice on the song The Real Rap of the Pot spicy 


The trio, dubbed Sister Wang is Coming, are known for sharing light-hearted videos on Douyin, China's version of TikTok. Guo and fellow musicians Wang Shuping, 64, and Wang Xiurong, 66, have more than half a million followers, who watch their food-related music videos with topics such as Fried Mushrooms and Food Rap of farmer


The group is part of a growing number of elderly Chinese who have found viral success sharing their daily lives online. In this corner of the Chinese internet, octogenarians sing, septuagenarians dance the tango, and white-haired fashionistas strut the catwalks and offer makeup tips to millions of admirers. There's even an 86-year-old man who does nothing but play video games like Call of Duty .


With more than 260 million inhabitants over the age of 60, China is the country in the world with the most elderly people, and where their number is growing the fastest. Almost half are online. Some choose to live out their professional dreams, while others simply have fun. Many find companionship through their followers, an antidote to an otherwise lonely life. They are part of a new generation of Chinese retirees who have lower net worth than their predecessors, as well as the financial freedom to pursue their hobbies and share their experiences online.


Singers, dancers and accidental celebrities are part of a global community of seniors who have grown fond of the ups and downs of social media. In China, influencers are helping to challenge a particularly entrenched stereotype that expects grandparents to stay at home and help take care of families by cleaning, cooking and looking after their grandchildren, while their adult children work. For some retirees, grandchildren are not a problem, however, as more and more young Chinese are rejecting marriage or choosing not to start a family.


"We look at our parents' old age and think we have to live differently," says 66-year-old Sun Yang. A former English teacher who retired more than a decade ago, Sun and three of her friends are fashion influencers who go by the name Glamma Beijing. In their videos, they wear vintage and modern clothes, and combine style recommendations with everyday life advice. "What we do now is something we could only dream of when we were young," he says. Many of Glamma Beijing's more than two million followers are in their 50s and 60s. But there are also younger ones, asking women questions about school and dating. Some say the tutorials helped them overcome their fear of aging, Sun notes.


The stars ofGlamma Beijing occasionally features her family in her videos...But usually the four women talk about traveling, going on excursions and attending fashion show rehearsals. Independence is a common theme in many of the influencers ' videos , as they oppose the idea that after retirement seniors should stay at home and help raise the next generation.


In the music videos ofSister Wang is Coming, Guo and her friends run around the countryside, playing pranks on each other, or lie on the grass and daydream. They rap about their love for cooking and food. It's a world away from the daily routines they once had, when they were mothers and wives with children to raise and husbands to feed. "Times are changing - says Lin Wei, 67 years old, another Glamma and former nurse, who has promised to stay active in old age. We have to follow the pace of society and integrate into it."


Less responsibility in raising children


China is facing a series of demographic challenges – such as falling marriage rates and a record low birth rate – that have helped change cultural norms about what it means to grow old. With one of the lowest retirement ages in the world – the average is 60 for men and 55 for women – the Chinese have a lot of time to devote to new creative activities on the Internet.


"For previous generations, life was limited to the bosom of the family, to watching television and taking care of the children - says Bei Wu, professor of global health at New York University. But now this generation, because they have less responsibilities in raising grandchildren, have more free time. Their sphere of activity goes beyond the family, so friends and social life play a much bigger role."


This generation, as it has less responsibility in raising grandchildren, has more free time and its scope of activity goes beyond the family”

BEI WU

Professor of Global Health at New York University


For the rapper and foodie grandmothers living in a village near Beijing, the videos started as a way to pass the time during the pandemic. "They were just to have fun and make a fool of themselves," says Wang Shuping. When Wang's son Ren Jixin visited during the Lunar New Year holiday, he thought he could help them polish their performance. "We detune. We don't have an ear for music," says Guo. Ren, a documentary composer, suggested that the trio rap instead of sing, and began writing the lyrics for the group. This year, hundreds of thousands of people started following Douyin's account. Ren returned home and now spends several days a week writing, rehearsing and filming.


"It's an exercise for the brain," explains Guo about the content they create. It also brings them money. Through her Douyin account, Sister Wang is Coming earns nearly $1,400 a month. It's not enough to live on, but as their fan base grows, they've generated more interest from businesses that want to advertise on it.


For Glamma Beijing, streaming is much more lucrative. They can earn over $27,000 in advertising and sales commissions from just a handful of live streams. In one, in August, the four grandmothers sat by a lake in a Beijing park and talked about their youth while 21,000 people watched online.


However, success can come with difficulties. Some of these older influencers are managed by talent agencies that impose onerous fees and require clients to promote products and brands. Fans can be fickle, and social media platforms like Douyin can bombard users with channels more focused on selling products than telling a good story.


When 86-year-old Tang Shikun began recording himself singing in 2020, a thousand viewers tuned in to each session. Today it only gathers about 20 people in one transmission. The Douyin platform has told his nephew, Tang Rui, who manages the account, that Tang's content is too simple and is therefore not promoted on the platform. This hasn't bothered Tang, who performs under the name Avi who loves to sing . A former munitions inspector at a state-owned factory, Tang has been retired for 36 years. Music, he says, has given him satisfaction since he moved from northeastern China to the tropical southern province of Hainan in 2019.


I think the elderly should have their own way of life”

TANG

86-year-old influencer

Tang, a widower, felt lonely at the beginning of living in a new city. "Now I play the keyboard for people in Douyin, and I can contact all my friends in the world," he says. Tang likes to play the favorite songs of some of his most loyal fans. One fan, a 50-year-old contractor who goes by the name Sunshine online, likes the traditional Mongolian ballad The Prairie Has a Blue River. Another admirer, a woman in her 50s from the southwestern province of Yunnan, once asked Tang's nephew for her bank account details. He sent her over $2,000. Tang said he has earned more than $6,800 in tips and donations since he started posting his videos online two years ago. "I play the keyboard and sing with joy, and the people listening to me can also benefit from that happiness," he says. "I think the elderly should have their own way of life - he adds -. They should not sit around doing nothing but find their own hobbies to enjoy happiness”.