Farmer couple's 82-year-old love story
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-12-06 11:02

A farmer couple from South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has been married for 82 years, longer than the previous Guiness record of 80 years and 14 days held by a British couple.

The couple in Guangxi could probably claim the new record, but their family members did not say whether they would apply for Guiness recognition.

Zheng Suncai, the husband, turned 101 years old Oct. 15 this year. His wife, Wang Xiuying, is now 100 years old. They married Oct. 15, 1904, when Zheng was 19 years old.

Zheng and his wife live in the Zhuzizhou Village in Pingle County, about 100 kilometers from the scenic city of Guilin. They have three sons and three daughters. Their eldest son is 78 years old and their youngest child is a 58-year-old woman. They have a family of more than 70 members spanning five generations.

Zheng does not smoke but drinks a little bit of rice wine. He loves vegetable dishes, and ginger and sweet potato leaves are his favorites. He said ginger could drive away cold and sweet potato leaves helped to digest food. But he never eats vegetables and melons that blossom during the night, saying they are harmful to health.

The 101-year-old Zheng still has good eyesight and reads books and newspapers everyday. But his wife Wang has poor eyesight and cannot walk by herself. Zheng takes care of his wife’s needs — from washing her face to feeding her.

“My father receives 60 yuan (US$7.5) in subsidies granted by the government each month and 600 yuan from the government during the traditional Spring Festival, China’s Lunar New Year,” said Zheng Wanxing, the eldest son.

“He loves watching TV programs, often takes a walk in the village and sometimes goes to see boats on the Tuijiang River and then tells my mother what he has seen,” Zheng Wanxing said.

Zheng’s family makes up the bulk of the village of Zhuzizhou. Villagers said that the senior Zheng’s children and grandchildren carry the principles of their ancestors: to be diligent, live a simple life, respect the elders, cherish the young, and live in harmony.