URUMQI, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Li Anna, a 64-year-old model from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, believes it is never too late to find your own beauty.
A retired researcher of a cultural center, Li started modeling part-time when she was 36 years old. Before that, she knew nothing about the catwalk.
"I attended a model contest for the first time in 1990. After a week's training, I was fascinated by the feeling of walking on the runway," she said.
Now aged 64, she still believes that she can be as elegant and beautiful as younger models in their twenties or thirties.
"The elderly should have confidence," she said.
In China's final of Miss Tourism International 2015, Li won the title of Golden Envoy for Models Aged 40 and Above.
"It might be the proudest moment for me to show the beauty of Chinese elderly to the world," she said.
In 2016, she set up a modeling team for the elderly, hoping to attract more seniors in joining her.
The number of people aged 60 or above in China reached 241 million at the end of 2017, accounting for 17.3 percent of the country's total population, according to the Office of the National Working Commission on Aging.
This number is expected to peak at 487 million around 2050, making up 34.9 percent of the total population by then.
The growing senior population is a sign of the country's health and medical improvements. But the elderly need more choices of social activities to live happy and healthy lives.
"I believe beauty has nothing to do with age, and the elderly should pursue beauty like young people," she said. "But models should always remember that what they show is clothes rather than themselves."
Li's team has more than 100 members now, with the average age being 50.
Guo Xiaojuan, 51, was among the first group of models to join the team. She started wearing high heels again almost ten years after she put them in her shoe cabinet.
"I once thought that only young people could walk on catwalks. When I stand on the runway, I feel confident to challenge them," Guo said.
Wang Yihua, a fashion designer based in Xinjiang, commented that Li is a professional model. "She always shows the audience whatever I want to express through my designs."
To keep fit, Li says she has been drinking only yogurt and eating a few nuts for dinner for years.
"I see being a model as an attitude toward life, keeping beautiful and elegant no matter how old you are, and no matter whether you're on the runway or sidewalk," she said.
