By Chen Zihan

On social media platforms, senior users are quietly reshaping perceptions of aging. Today, it’s common to see 90-year-old men sipping bubble tea and playing basketball, or women in their sixties confidently sharing their life stories through short videos.

According to a statistical report on China’s internet development, by June 2025, the number of internet users aged 60 and above in China had reached 161 million, with an internet penetration rate exceeding 52 percent within this demographic. Transitioning from passive users to active content creators, seniors are entering the digital age with a newfound sense of presence.

Take Mr. Wang, a 90-year-old who shares his vibrant life on short video platforms. Bubble tea, traditional Nuo dance, basketball, and urban explorations are regular features of his content.

“I used to plan five ‘one-hour activities’ each day: basketball, dance, music practice, news reading, and outdoor time with my wife. Since starting my social media account, that became six activities, adding an hour for posting, reading comments, and replying,” Wang wrote in his 2025 year-end summary. “It’s been my busiest year since retiring.”

His journey began unexpectedly at the end of 2024 when a video of him ordering bubble tea went viral. Inspired by the response, Wang started sharing his daily life online. Within just over a year, he evolved from a novice who struggled with basic tasks like forwarding links to a popular creator with over 100,000 followers.

His story is far from unique. According to the global travel media platform Travel and Tour World, senior content creators are increasingly influencing audiences’ travel and consumption decisions, thanks to their authenticity and natural relatability.

Why do videos by seniors resonate so strongly with younger viewers?

Jin Yong’ai, a professor at the Population Development Studies Center of Renmin University of China, explained that seniors bring valuable life experience and resonant stories. In the fast-paced online world, their calm and sincere communication offers young people both insight and emotional comfort.

“The warmth and wisdom of older generations can help ease the anxiety and loneliness many young people feel, while also giving seniors a stronger sense of fulfillment,” Jin added.

Xin Tao, a senior engineer at the China Research Center on Aging, noted that the rise of older creators reflects broader social and technological changes. “This trend is driven by multiple factors, including desires for self-realization and social participation, platform incentives and targeted support, intergenerational collaboration, and a more inclusive cultural mindset,” he said. 

Through content creation, Xin emphasized, seniors are not only boosting digital engagement and cultural preservation but also transforming their rich human capital into a new driver of social development.

There’s another influencer who calls herself “Chaoyi” online, which means “fashionable aunt.” From sharing her energetic daily life as a sanitation worker to showcasing her creativity in handcrafting a baby room, the 61-year-old woman has gained over 300,000 followers in just over a year with her optimistic and humorous style.

Like many older creators, she is curious about new things. However, she still relies on her son and daughter-in-law for much of the video production work.

Her experience reflects a broader reality. For many seniors, fully mastering digital tools and independently producing content remains a challenge. To help bridge the digital divide, China has introduced a national standard on age-friendly smart multimedia terminals. Communities across the country regularly offer smartphone training, while user-friendly AI-powered devices are being rolled out, combining technological accessibility with human-centered support.

Meanwhile, Deng Hong, a 72-year-old Chinese expatriate in France, greets her audience cheerfully: “Hello everyone, I’m Hongjie, living in France.” Creating short videos has added a vibrant new dimension to her life. “I want to show my confidence in life and share positive energy through my videos,” she said. “I’m planning to learn video editing myself. With today’s powerful AI tools, I will be able to add scripts to my videos in the future.”

“Older people should not be seen simply as a group in need of care,” Jin emphasized. “They are actively participating in society.” Recent survey data from her research team showed that in areas such as instant messaging and online payments, seniors’ internet usage is now largely on par with other age groups.

From Wang’s six “one-hour activities,” to Chaoyi’s family-assisted creativity, and to Deng Hong’s exploration of AI, a growing number of older creators are finding their unique rhythms in the digital world, redefining what it means to age in the modern era.

By Meng Haiying, People’s Daily

As March brings warmer temperatures to northeast China, the snow and ice blanketing its forested mountains begin to thaw.

At 8:30 a.m., a People’s Daily reporter arrived at a research base of the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park in Hunchun, northeast China’s Jilin province, and joined Feng Limin — director of the monitoring and research center for siberian tigers and amur leopards under the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and a professor at Beijing Normal University (BNU) — for a trek into the mountains. The trip offered both a field survey and a glimpse into the daily work of researchers deep in the forest.

Not long after entering the woods, the crisp air and birdsong set the scene, while herds of sika deer could be seen leaping through the trees.

As they moved deeper into the forest, Feng suddenly stopped, his eyes lighting up. On a patch of unmelted snow lay a dense cluster of tracks — interwoven footprints of sika deer and roe deer, mixed with signs of wild boars. Pointing to a larger, rounder print, he said excitedly, “That’s a tiger’s footprint!”

“Imagine youself as a tiger, how would this forest feel?” Feng said, mimicking a tiger’s gait with childlike enthusiasm. 

“When I enter the forest, I instinctively step outside the human perspective. Only by seeing the forest through the animals’ eyes — observing how they move, forage, and live — can we advance meaningful research and conservation,” Feng explained.

The rich variety of tracks in the snow serves as tangible evidence of the park’s improving ecosystem.

In Miaoling, a rural village, two elderly residents strolled along a local road. “In my youth, deer sightings were rare,” remarked Diao, a septuagenarian. “Now we watch herds graze on the hills right from our windows. The environment here has truly transformed.”

Infrared cameras, each fitted with solar panels, lined the forest trails. “More than 20 years ago, we had to go into the mountains to replace batteries and retrieve film from these cameras, which meant long delays,” Feng explained. “Now, with solar power and real-time data transmission, most camera sites in the national park can send back real-time images and videos in real time.”

Feng’s team at BNU developed an integrated ground-air-space monitoring platform, enhancing transparency and efficiency in species tracking, patrols, anti-poaching operations, and fire prevention.

He displayed a sequence of clips: a villager carrying wire appeared before a camera; days later, a roe deer passed the same spot; then, a hunter dragged the deer downhill. By the next day, forest police were documented collecting evidence against the suspected poacher.

In recent years, Jilin province has carried out special campaigns to remove illegal traps from the park. With the comprehensive real-time monitoring system, illegal activities have virtually nowhere to hide. 

Today, the national park operates a large-scale, integrated monitoring network: nearly 30,000 ground-based infrared cameras run around the clock, supported by satellite remote sensing from space and drone patrols in the air, achieving near-complete coverage.

With advanced technology and sustained conservation efforts, results are becoming increasingly evident. The populations of Siberian tigers and Amur leopards have grown from 27 and 42 to around 70 and 80, respectively.

“Another discovery!” Feng exclaimed after discovering tiger scat following the earlier footprint. “Collecting feces is an important non-invasive sampling method. It contains valuable information about the tiger’s diet, genetic makeup, and health — crucial for research.”

Reflecting on key milestones, Feng outlined a timeline: Jilin province banned hunting of terrestrial wildlife in 1996; national nature reserves were established in Hunchun and Wangqing in the early 2000s; commercial logging in key state-owned natural forests was halted in 2015; and in October 2021, the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park was officially established, covering 14,100 square kilometers.

At 3 p.m., the group returned from the mountains. Still full of energy, Feng headed off to meet a group of a high school students from an affiliated school of BNU, where he was scheduled to give a science outreach lecture. No matter how busy his is, he always makes time for public education — reaching an audience of over 1 million people.

By Gu Zhongyang, Dong Siyu, People’s Daily

A drone featuring innovative “bamboo wings” represents a significant advancement in the emerging low-altitude economy.

Earlier this year, a bamboo-based tilt-rotor drone successfully completed its maiden flight in north China’s Tianjin municipality, marking a major breakthrough in the application of bamboo-based composite materials in aviation in China.

“Bamboo materials constitute over 25% of the drone’s fuselage, with the entire skin structure crafted from high-performance bamboo composites developed in China. This level of bamboo integration is unprecedented globally for fixed-wing drones,” said Qin Daochun, director of the International Center for Bamboo and Rattan. 

The drone offers advantages in both performance and cost: compared with lightweight, high-strength carbon fiber, the overall weight is reduced by more than 20 percent, while the cost of bamboo strips is only about a quarter that of conventional carbon fiber fabric.

China houses the world’s richest bamboo resources, with nearly 8 million hectares of bamboo forests and an annual output of 150 million tons.

In November 2022, China and the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization jointly launched an initiative to deepen global cooperation on replacing plastic with bamboo, aiming to better leverage bamboo’s strengths as an alternative to plastic products.

Over the past three years, China’s bamboo industry has continued to expand, forming a diversified system with a wide range of products, business models, and distinctive features. To date, the number of bamboo product categories in China has exceeded 15,000, and the industry’s annual output value has surpassed 520 billion yuan ($75.35 billion).

Innovation within the sector is evident. Ganzhou Sentai Bamboo & Wood Co., Ltd. in east China’s Jiangxi province has developed a bamboo pipe organ. When struck with bamboo mallets, it produces a clear, pleasing sound.

“By combining the mechanical structure of traditional pipe organs with innovative bamboo soundboards and resonance components, we retain the instrument’s core performance features while incorporating the unique tonal qualities of bamboo,” said Xu He, the company’s general manager. 

According to Xu, the company also produces more than 1,500 types of high-quality products, including structural bamboo materials for construction, decorative bamboo materials, and indoor and outdoor bamboo furniture and accessories.

Beyond musical instruments, bamboo is becoming increasingly integrated into daily life and industry. Bamboo tableware and film bags are now widely used in daily life. Bamboo grilles and cooling tower packing materials are increasingly applied in construction and industrial cooling systems, while bamboo fiber composites have been successfully used in automotive interiors. As a green, low-carbon, and biodegradable material, bamboo is finding broader applications and is becoming an important substitute for traditional materials such as plastic and steel.

Technological breakthroughs are continuously expanding the boundaries of bamboo applications. At a construction site in Dazhu county, southwest China’s Sichuan province, bamboo-wound composite pipes have been laid into trenches.

“Our independently developed bamboo-winding composite technology enables bamboo to be processed into large-diameter pressure pipes, urban utility tunnels, and even high-speed train carriages,” said Ye Ling, chairman of Xinzhou, a company developing bamboo-based composite materials in Zhejiang province, and the developer of the bamboo-wound composite pipes in Dazhu.

“These materials are lightweight yet strong, offer insulation and soundproofing, resist weathering and corrosion, and are cost-effective and easy to install. They can replace high-energy-consumption materials such as steel and cement across a wide range of applications,” Ye added.

As a new infrastructure material pioneered in China, bamboo-wound pipes have already been applied on a large scale in municipal, water conservancy, and transportation projects. They have been installed across more than 700 kilometers in 11 provinces, increasing production efficiency by 25 percent while reducing unit costs by 13 percent.

Technological innovation remains the core driver of the bamboo industry’s transformation. The National Forestry and Grassland Administration has released 37 key technological achievements related to bamboo-for-plastic substitution. From sodium-ion battery hard carbon anode materials to trendy furniture and fashion, new bamboo-based materials are continually breaking traditional boundaries.

Across the value chain, China is building a comprehensive bamboo industry ecosystem: cultivating large-scale producers upstream; strengthening core sectors such as bamboo home products and bamboo fiber goods while developing emerging industries like bamboo-based pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and bioenergy in the midstream; and promoting the integration of bamboo with tourism, wellness, and cultural industries downstream.

Regions across China are leveraging local conditions to build industrial systems that are integrated, multifunctional, and high-value, with a growing number of “whole-bamboo” utilization models that make the most of every part of the plant. 

The industry is expanding beyond bamboo shoot processing and basic manufacturing into areas such as bamboo technology, bamboo-related tourism, and bamboo carbon sinks. 

In Nanping, southeast China’s Fujian province, the total output value of the bamboo industry exceeded 50 billion yuan last year. In Xingwen county, Sichuan province, a bamboo-themed tourist destination attracted 1.8 million visitors in the first half of last year with full-chain experiences.

Currently, China has more than 10,000 bamboo processing enterprises, employing over 29 million people throughout the entire industrial chain.

As the industry upgrades, China is also actively promoting bamboo products, technologies, and equipment overseas, offering Chinese solutions for global efforts to replace plastic and protect the environment. 

In Youxi county, Fujian province, 280,000 mu (about 18,667 hectares) of bamboo forests have received FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification. A local paper company has developed eco-friendly tableware from bamboo fiber as an alternative to plastic products, with exports rising 35 percent year on year in 2025.