Seventy-four-year-old Li Zhongyou was half-drunk on a warm afternoon in late autumn. He had just put away three cups of liquor in a row. He was bridegroom that day, and he drank to celebrate his own wedding. His bride was 60-year-old Yi Guangzhen, who lives in the same rest home with him in Beijing.

Earlier that morning, the red Chinese character for "double happiness" was posted high on the gray wall of the Jingshan Community Rest Home, Dongcheng District, Beijing. Twenty-six "uncles" and "aunts" from the rest home, working staff from the Jingshan subdistrict office and community service center, and Li's sons and daughters came to the wedding. The small courtyard at the rest home became lively at once.

The wedding started at 10:30 am. Li carefully put a diamond ring on the finger of an excited, happy Yi. They held each other by the hand and shook three times. With the crack of fireworks, the newlyweds were covered with colored paper bits. No one noticed that Yi's face had flushed red.

Li is a retired engineer, and he loves music and singing. He came to the rest home in February 2004. Yin came a year earlier from Wuhan. She was a teacher and also loves music.

"Early in March, retirement home attendant Xiao Song told me that an elderly man who was good at singing had come," Yi said. "I went to see him, and that was the first time we met." Yi smiled and recalled her story of a twilight love. Because they shared a common interest in music, the two spent more and more time together.

"One day, all of a sudden, he presented me two roses," Yi said. "I knew that he cared for me. Once I had my foot wrenched, he came holding a basin to soak my feet for me. But I had some misgivings when considering getting married again at this age."

Seeing the situation, Zhang and other people working at the rest home began to help the two along. The sons and daughters of the elderly lovebirds also showed their support.

"It is our filial duty to let elders do what they like to do," Li's daughter said.

At long last, the two decided to hold a wedding, on Oct. 9. In Chinese, the number 10 has the same pronunciation as the word "real." The number nine has the same pronunciation as the word for "long-lasting."

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China has the largest population of senior citizens in the world. At present, the population of senior citizens over 60 is more than 130 million, accounting for 10 percent of the population. In the next 50 years, the situation will become more severe. It is predicted that by the middle of this century, the population of senior citizens in the country will surpass 400 million, accounting for one and quarter of the population in the country.

(China Pictorial February 4, 2005)