71-year-old Chinese model proves age is just a number

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Yang Guang is a 71-year-old model who lives in Shanghai, and she is one of the most popular senior models for Taobao. When searching for senior female outfits on Taobao, huge numbers of Yang’s modeling pictures pop up.

For Yang, age is just a number and she proves that there is no age limit on the life you want to live.

For Yang, being a model is how she expresses her happiness and pursues beauty. /VCG Photo

Supported by her family, she often commutes between her home in Shanghai and the studios in Hangzhou in east China’s Zhejiang Province by high speed rail. Instead of being accompanied by an assistant or her family, she prefers to travel to work by herself.

“I don’t like to bother my child or my husband. It is more convenient and flexible to travel alone since I can decide my schedule,” she said.

Besides being a model and having photos taken for Taobao, she also shoots commercials, dramas and films. As of March 2018, she has participated in over 30 films and hundreds of commercials.

Unlike most Chinese seniors who spend their time sitting in front of the TV at home and shopping at the nearby grocery stores, Yang thinks she gets lots of exercise from her part-time job.

Motivated by her desire to shoot and feel beautiful, she decided to be a model.

“I enjoy the feeling of modelling since I can try on many beautiful clothes. That is the reason I entered the modeling industry,” she said with a smile.

Models often shoot winter clothes in summer and wear summer outfits in the studio at the beginning of spring, thus, when modelling the summer season, Yang has to use the heater to get warm in between photo shoots.

Yang has to warm up the heater between shoots when working in winter. /VCG Photo

The photographer will shoot over 150 clothes on average per session. This means she has to stand for nearly ten hours – to cope with this, she massages her ankles and knees during breaks.

Standing for nearly ten hours makes her ankles and knees stiffen. /VCG Photo

Unlike young models who can take photos in many different spots during one shooting day, Yang's health means she can only take photos in one location. Still, she gets lots of invitations from different model agencies.

The long hours on set are just part of the modeling business: Communicating with photographers and taking part in proper poses are also a major part of the job.

“She can quickly find suitable poses for the clothes,” a photographer who often works with Yang told the Qingdao News, “I can easily capture her skillful poses and professional smiles.”

Different clothes need different poses. "When I wear a qipao, a traditional Chinese stylish dress that was created in the 1920s and regarded as a signature of upper class ladies, I smile elegantly, while when I shoot for casual outfits, I do a big smile," she said.

“Being a model has always been my dream since I was young. It is never too late to start a new career," she said, "When I smile in front of the camera, it really comes from my inner happiness."