A quiet retirement in the woods, forest therapy takes off for seniors

Wang Juan, 65, used to practice tai chi in her courtyard as a way of exercise. Now, she has found a better place - the forest.

Exercise in the forest, or forest therapy, has become a new fashion among older people, and according to one industry expert, it has the potential to grow into a new industry worth more than 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion), bringing tens of millions of job opportunities.

"Forest therapy integrates many industries including elderly care, tourism, culture, sports, experience and entertainment. It will constitute a large, highly dense and intertwined modern industrial cluster, cultivating an industry worth a trillion yuan, or even larger," said Liu Tuo, head of the Department of Rural Forestry Reform and Development of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.