Special care has been shown to seven centenarians and five old employees Reported by Zhuo Zhimin

Another seven centenarians living in taxuschinensis received the “l(fā)ove gift pack” from the Yaoting Charity Foundation in Wuxi. These senior citizens came from Donggang Town, and became the centenarians of 2016. They had first collected the 50,000-Yuan grant as a token of the foundation’s care and in the following years they can collect an annual sum of 10,000 Yuan, until a total of 100,000 Yuan has been collected. Moreover, five old employees of Gangxia Knitting Mill (former name of HOdo Group) also received the “l(fā)ove gift bag”. On April 26, the reporter learned the news during the “Spring Action” news conference of the Yaoting Charity Foundation in Wuxi.  

Being a centenarian is no longer a dream when living in the taxuschinensis forest. Last year, news of Yaoting Charity Foundation in Wuxi concerning its care for the centenarians in the taxuschinensis forest had engaged great attention of the public. There are altogether 16 centenarians in Donggang Town, including nine out of the twelve centenarians of last year as well as seven who become the new centenarians in 2016 (All of them live around the taxuschinensis forest). The number increased by 33.3 % compared with that of last year. There are 699 senior citizens aged from 90 to 99. According to the 77,000 registered population in Donggang Town, there are two centenarians out of every 10,000 citizens in Donggang Town, which not only exceeds the number of centenarians in Wuxi, but is well above the assessment index (10:100,000) for “China’s longevity town”. Therefore, Donggang Town deserves to be reputed as the “Longevity Town” and the “Longevity Village”. Zhou Yaoting, honorary president of the foundation and HOdo’s board chairman remarked that it was hoped that taxuschinensis would make more people healthy and happy, and there would definitely be more centenarians in the taxuschinensis forest.

Yan Jianyuan, deputy general of Wuxi Bureau of Civil Affairs pointed out that in the past one more year since the establishment of Yaoting Foundation in Wuxi, the foundation has helped a great many people that need our care and has made outstanding contribution to constructing a harmonious society. Fortunately, the reporter also visited the two centenarians. One is Zhu Fudi who is living at Tangjiatang of Gangxia Community. Driving through tracts of taxuschinensis of HOdo Group, we arrived at Zhu Fudi’s home in no time. We were informed that she was at a neighbor’s home at the moment. After a while, a spirited old woman with white hair walked in the house accompanied by her families. She also gave the reporter a warm hug after the introduction of her family members. Zhu has two sons and three daughters and she is now living with the eldest son. She is very healthy and can wash clothes and dishes and sweep the floor on her own. She can also play mahjong with her families and neighbors. Although her sons and daughters dissuaded her from doing housework, the old lady insisted on doing so. What is most unbelievable is that despite her great age, her eye sight is so good that she can thread a needle and patch up clothes on her own. Zhu even showed her astonishing feat before the reporter, making the viewers pale into insignificance by comparison.  

The other is Yang Fusheng, a male centenarian living Shaoshi, Shanlian Village which is in the depth of the taxuschinensis forest. It took us around 8 minutes’ drive to arrive at his home. Five generations of the Yang family are living together. He is an easy-going person and used to work as a sailor for Wuxi Shipping Company. Now he is in such good health that he does not even have a cold every year. Yang also did a bodybuilding exercise invented by himself. 

Through communication with these senior citizens and their families, we learned that some of them enjoy vegetarian diet and some have paid attention to the matching of meat and vegetables. For diet, this is not their most important secret for longevity. The reporter has summed up the following three secrets. First, they have a healthy mental state and are easy-going. Besides, they are free of worries. Second, they all have a harmonious family which practices sound family tradition as well as filial offspring. Thirdly, all of them live beside the taxuschinensis forest. Some of them live in thetaxuschinensisforest, so taxuschinensis has become an inseparable partner of these macrobians. Now the tracts of taxuschinensis have been grown in Donggang Town. Since 1997, HOdo Group has been growingtaxuschinensis through artificial cultivation. Presently, large-scale taxuschinensis high-tech park has taken into shape. This industrial park has more than 30 million taxuschinensis and is the largest breeding base for taxuschinensis seedling in China. Taxuschinensis is known as “healthy tree” and “l(fā)ongevity tree” which is due to the following reasons. On the one hand, it absorbs toxic substances like carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide as well as carcinogens such as formaldehyde, benzene, methylbenzene and xylene, which is conducive to the protection against cancer. On the other, taxuschinensis is highly effective in purifying the air and therefore turns the land into a “natural oxygen bar”. The plant inhales carbon dioxide and exhales oxygen around the clock, bringing natural fresh air to the surrounding residents all the time. In recent years, the number of centenarians in Donggang Town has recorded a sharp increase:there were six centenarians in 2012, nine in 2014, 12 in 2015 and 16 in 2016. The growing number of centenarians in Donggang Town has fully embodied the great reputation of the “l(fā)ongevity tree” - taxuschinensis. 

The reporter noticed that not only centenarians have become the target of the care and assistance of Yaoting Charity Foundation, HOdo also showed care to the founding employees of Gangxia Knitting Mill (former name of HOdo Group), which is also one of the assistance projects when the Yaoting Charity Foundation is established. Jiang Guocai, president of the foundation indicated that these employees had made contribution to the development of Gangxia Knitting Mill in the past. Now that they are advanced in age, they should receive more care and help. HOdo’s care to these employees also gave expression to the foundation’s objective of “showing love to support the socially disadvantaged groups and boost the construction of a harmonious society”. At the same time, it also carried forward the foundation’s spirit of respecting the elderly and passed on the positive energy of the society by cherishing a benevolent and grateful heart.It is reported that the foundation shall work to help senior Party members and senior cadres in the following step, so as to realize “targeted poverty alleviation”. 

Yaoting Charity Foundation in Wuxi, a non-public foundation as independently operated by HOdo Group for the first time, was founded in March 2015 through the personal donation of 10 million Yuan from Zhou Yaoting, board chairman of HOdo Group and president Zhou Haijiang. The foundation continues HOdo’s great love and is also the milestone for the new stage of HOdo’s charity cause. The foundation strives to expand the influence of its philanthropic effort through a professional and efficient way of operation, so as to render assistance to more people in need. In the past one more year since establishment of the foundation, it has organized activities such as “show care to the centenarians of the taxuschinensis forest”, which have won general approval of the society. Jiang Guocai remarked that the fund of Yaoting Charity Foundation, a non-public fund, has come from the shareholders of HOdo Group. In 2015, GuJianqing, HOdo’s deputy Party secretary and so on donated a total of 1.6 million Yuan, making the foundation more powerful financially. In the coming future, the foundation will endeavor to keep and increase the value of its fund by virtue of professional and independent operation and thus help more people in need.