Age has no limit for people finding their passion, falling in love, realizing their dreams or thriving like never before. This is the message a recently released documentary series has tried to convey about aging.

In the seven-episode documentary Qianlang (Preceding Wave), a 75-year-old man nicknamed A Bao and an 81-year-old woman nicknamed Lingling feel love has nothing to do with age; 96-year-old Xu Wei thinks taking his driver's license exam is the first step to taking his wife on a road trip; and in the eyes of Qin Xiuying, who is in her 70s, writing helps her uncover her true self.

Besides giving viewers a deeper appreciation of life, the series is also a thought-provoking exploration of the struggles and challenges that come with growing old, including elderly care, social isolation and Alzheimer's disease.

"As an inevitable part of life, aging is a multifaceted topic that everyone will face. While breaking common stereotypes about aging, the documentary tries to record real-life stories with nuance and joy," says Fan Shiguang, chief director of the production.

Released on Dragon TV on June 11 and online video platforms like Tencent Video, airing every Tuesday, the series is produced by Shanghai Media Group's documentary center. Each episode lasts for about 50 minutes.

Nearly 30 million people were born in China in 1963, the most since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Last year, many of them retired, which was what first encouraged Fan's team to turn to them for clues as to how their generation will influence society.

Consisting of 30 members, most of whom were born after 1990, the team began the project in November 2022, recording nearly 20 stories of seniors in Shanghai over the following two years. As the oldest member of the team, 39-year-old Fan wanted to authentically convey the real lives of the elderly, a group rarely explored on-screen.

His hope is that seniors will now be seen and their experiences of getting old will encourage younger generations to rethink their lives, prompting intergenerational communication.

"Growing old is a natural process that cannot be described as good or bad. We cannot define aging, which may lead to prejudice and discrimination against older people who navigate this stage of life with wisdom and resilience," Fan says, adding that the older generation is like a mirror reflecting everyone else's tomorrow.

Love and freedom

This is also the reason the eternal theme of love was chosen for the first episode Love in Ikea, which proves that love conquers all, according to Fan.

"We try to discuss the lifelong need for intimacy and the cafeteria in Ikea in Shanghai, a well-known dating spot, was the perfect setting for our first episode," Fan says.

For more than a decade, the Ikea store has been a popular dating venue for elderly lovebirds like A Bao, according to the episode's director Chen Zifan.

He has been divorced three times. His first wife was diagnosed schizophrenia and their marriage ended after 18 years. He married a second time, which ended after eight years as it was not happy. His third wife, who was wheelchair bound, passed away in a nursing home.

Renting an apartment in the suburbs of Shanghai with a pension of 8,000 yuan ($1,100) per month, A Bao has been pursuing one of the most beautiful women in the cafeteria, who he has nicknamed Yamaguchi Momoe for her likeness to the Japanese actress, for the last three years. However, he has failed in his attempts so far.

"I used to think of it as a love-without-a-future story and couldn't understand why he kept saying that he knew she couldn't love him back, but still wanted to take care of her. Gradually, I learned that love is not something that you can repress or control," Chen wrote in her director's log, adding that A Bao's dedication to looking for his Mrs Right illustrates the resilience and vitality of older adults on-screen, reminding us that it's never too late for new beginnings.

"We usually think that Chinese are too shy to say 'I love you' but the seniors we have filmed show how romantic they still are," Chen says.

Leaving aside the pursuit of love, the third episode Tomorrow Will Be Better offers a different way to view aging, which should not be seen as a barrier to fulfillment but as something that brings power and freedom.

On Nov 20, 2020, the Ministry of Public Security lifted the age limit for driver's license applicants as long as they meet physical and mental requirements. Soon after, Xu became one of three men over 90 in Shanghai preparing to take the exam. The other two quit half way but the retired physical education teacher has kept trying.

In the episode, director Xu Yiling, the youngest member of the team, says she was fortunate to encounter the oldest man in the documentary series.

"It sounds romantic but also quite controversial, that a 96-year-old wants to take on the challenge of driving to take his wife on a road trip. There are many voices in the story, including those with concerns and doubts, but it seems Xu Wei is the only one who believes that as long as he keeps trying, he can make it," Xu Yiling says, adding that "tomorrow will be better" and "this is life" are his pet phrases. She chose the first as the title of the episode.

For Xu Yiling, the story is not just about an elderly man learning to drive, but also about how to face adversity and grasp the steering wheel of life. She says that amid cheers of encouragement, viewers will find that the seemingly unrealistic slogan genuinely has the power to heal lives.

Pain and acceptance

While reminding viewers that the passage of time can be a gift, the series also explores the physical and mental changes that aging brings.

In the sixth episode Go With the Flow, Fan highlights the important message that there are always battles we cannot fight.

It explores the life of Wang Minhua, who is grappling with the challenges of aging and Alzheimer's disease in her 80s, who asks in the episode: "Going against the flow implies a rebellion against life itself. Why should I go against it?"

The rhetorical question hits Fan. "The episode underscores the fact that aging is not just a stage of life, but a profound attitude toward existence," he says.

In the final episode, the team turns their lens on a scene of five elders with disabilities or dementia bathing, as taking a simple shower or bath is a luxury for people in the final stages of life.

"I think it is a terrific episode that provides perspective on the changes to our bodies as we get old. It raises the important question of how we look at aging," Fan says, adding that hollow praise of aging is absurd and those who stubbornly resist aging are cowardly.

Through the camera, viewers get a glimpse of these stories of bathing, which express the pain of life but also portray its dignity.

As French writer Simone de Beauvoir states in Old Age, "It is old age, rather than death, that is to be contrasted with life. Old age is life's parody, whereas death transforms life into a destiny: In a way it preserves it by giving it the absolute dimension."

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