Clusters of towns and cities around the world have become curious case studies for scientists looking into just how residents there appear to defy natural aging, living healthier for much longer than anywhere else on the planet. Now, another "longevity hotspot" is in the spotlight.
We've covered these extensively, as researchers search for answers to the biological phenomenon of "super-agers".
Now, there's a new location in the spotlight: Rugao. This ancient city a few hundred miles northwest of Shanghai is known for a couple of things – bonsai and centenarians.
As of February 2026, Rugao was home to 672 residents aged over 100 years. While this might not seem a lot considering the city's estimated population of 1.3 million, on a global scale it's significant. Worldwide, about 88 people per million live to 100 years; in Rugao, up to five times more residents make this milestone per million. Obviously, worldwide averages are not ideal comparisons. But even in wealthy nations with high life expectancies, these super-aging hubs are outliers.
Earlier this year, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Soil Science in Nanjing suggested that mineral-rich soil used to grow the city's primary produce could contribute to Rugao's long-living population. In the South China Morning Post article that aired these findings, residents offered details of their daily routines – time outdoors, staying as active as possible and kindness.
Now, this is obviously anecdotal, but the 111-year-old Wang Gaiying, who was the subject of this story, actually touches on what scientists have found in common with super-agers. Studies have found associations between living healthier for longer in people who are curious, social and report lower stress levels.
“Individuals in the Blue Zone showed higher levels of openness to experience, more effective coping strategies, greater emotional competence, and more frequent involvement in cognitively and physically stimulating activities compared to their non-Blue Zone peers,” the Italian researchers noted in their study earlier this year.
In a new video from CGTN that spoke to the city's residents, centenarians speak candidly about their lives. Again, it's anecdotal, but there's a common thread among these folk.
"I'm 105 years old and I'm feeling great," Gao Tingkuan told CGTN (translated to English). "Here we get up before 5 o'clock, have a little exercise or take a walk around the yard."
He goes on to say he then does his grocery shopping at the local market, buying what he feels like eating. Another resident, aged 96, said he filled his days with light chores then rests, spending time with his dog.
The town is now essentially a real-world study for scientists, after comprehensive data was gathered over a year back in 2007. This foundational study, known as the Rugao Longevity and Ageing Study, has become a formative source of ongoing research into the factors that contribute to healthier longer living.
"We observed that long-lived participants had a higher level of subjective well-being (a psychosocial factor) than the
group aged 60–69 years," researchers noted in an 2015 paper published in the International Journal of Epidemiology. "For female long-lived participants, low body mass index, rather than elevated body mass index, is an indicator of poor psychological well-being."
Interestingly, the study did find that the oldest cohort in the city had a higher rate of chronic kidney disease (CKD), but this wasn't a result of what usually contributes to the condition.
"Of interest, it was not the traditional risk factors (e.g. hyper-tension, diabetes) but others (e.g., hyperuricaemia) that
showed associations with CKD in long-lived participants," the researchers noted.
In a 2022 study that instead focused on the nutritional data collected from the foundational longevity study, researchers highlighted behaviors that support broader scientific consensus: We have more control over our future health than we may think (especially when we're younger and pretty healthy).
And, while we don't want to hear it, eating vegetables every day was something that the healthiest, oldest Rugao residents had as a non-negotiable.
"What probably matters most in our findings is that diet and regular exercise remain important determinants of nutritional health into extreme longevity," the team wrote. "94.2% of centenarian ate vegetables daily, and bean product were consumed more frequently than by the poor nutritional status group, in accord with the dietary habits of otherl ong-living peoples in the so-called ‘blue zone’.
"That legumes or beans favour longevity with affordable and sustainable diets across food cultures is well-established," they continued. "In the case of soy, besides having high-quality protein, it has soluble dietary fibre, oligosaccharides, phyto-oestrogenic isoflavones, essential fatty acids, phytosterols, and other nutrients, as important, it has physicochemical characteristics conducive to appropriate food component delivery and gut microbiomics."
If you're a New Atlas regular, you'll know how much we've been focusing on the importance of the gut microbiome; it's one of the most pivotal emerging areas of medical science. It plays a key role in controling inflammation and potentially has a much larger influence on brain health than we currently understand.
"Regular physical activity, even for short intervals , and in the face of disorders of body composition and chronic disease, prolongs healthy lifespans," the researchers also found. "It is plausible that the dietary and physical activity associations found in the present study act synergistically to benefit body composition.
"Those with poor nutritional status exhibited less good muscle mass condition from both anthropometric and direct body composition measurements, consistent with other reports," the scientists continued. "Senior citizens are prone to falls, as a feature of sarcopenia and reduced muscle strength, often a defining episode in the quest for longevity."
Much like in other super-aging zones, scientists haven't unearthed some magical "fountain of youth". But across the globe, these hotspots have many things in common that aren't down to genetics. And these the healthy centenarians are living proof that while we can't control many aspects of modern life – the air we breathe, where our food comes from, our microplastics intake – we're not powerless, and small changes in activity, diet and outlook is something most of us can manage.
Even if it does mean making friends with vegetables on a daily basis.
Source: South China Morning Post and International Journal of Epidemiology
