In the remote and mountainous Bama County of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the 2000 census recorded 74 centenarians, a surprisingly large number considering the total population is only 238,000. The ratio of centenarians is 30.8 per 100,000, far exceeding the international standard of 25 per 100,000 for "hometowns of longevity" -- centenarian-clustered areas recognized by the International Natural Medicine Society. 90-year-olds in the region total 293, or 123.1 per 100,000, also a noticeably high proportion.

With decades of research, experts have been surprised to find that the ratio of centenarians has not fallen over the past years, while other "hometowns of longevity" all over the world have experienced a tendency for numbers to decline with the invasion of industrialization and modernization. Why Bama remains immune to the phenomenon has caught worldwide attention. Studies have proven that the longevity of the centenarians in Bama is not the product of a mysterious force but is actually the result of long-lasting interactions between many different elements in their lifestyle, heredity, and environment.

Bama County, with a surface area of 1, 976 square kilometers, is inhabited by the different Chinese ethnic groups of Yao, Han and Zhuang. Longevity has a long tradition in the region. During the Jiaqing Reign in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the emperor once presented a poem to a 142-year-old man of Yao Ethnic Minority. In December 1898 during the Guangxu Reign, the emperor awarded a horizontal board, inscribed with "Only the benevolent lives to a ripe old age", to Deng Chengcai, a centenarian from Natao Village. Today the board has been maintained and well preserved.

  Natural Conditions

Located at the 24th parallel of North Latitude and 107 degrees East Longitude, Bama is found at the interface of a semi-tropical and a tropical zone. The average temperature is 20.5 degree Celsius with lowest annual average of 16.9 and highest of 25.9, which is an ideal condition for human existence.

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