Rugao, China: A practical look at a city of ‘super-agers’ and what researchers have found

# Why Rugao is in the spotlight

Rugao, a city northwest of Shanghai known for bonsai, has become a modern case study in human longevity. In February 2026 the city counted 672 residents aged 100 or older. With an estimated population of 1.3 million, that proportion of centenarians is unusually high: worldwide the centenarian rate is about 88 people per million, and Rugao's rate can be up to five times that figure.

# What researchers have studied

Study began with comprehensive data gathering in 2007 and has produced subsequent analyses. A 2015 paper compared long-lived participants with people aged 60–69 and found higher subjective well-being among the long-lived group. The study also noted gender differences in nutritional indicators: for women, low body mass index correlated with poorer psychological well-being.

A 2022 examination of the nutritional data focused on concrete eating habits. Key findings tied to better outcomes among centenarians included daily vegetable consumption (94.2% of centenarians ate vegetables every day) and more frequent consumption of bean products compared with participants who had poorer nutritional status. The researchers framed these dietary habits alongside regular physical activity as persistent determinants of nutritional health into extreme old age.

# Surprising health patterns

# Environmental and lifestyle clues

Local media and a CGTN video give practical color to the statistical work. Centenarians in public interviews describe routines that repeat across many long-lived people: getting up before 5 a.m., light exercise and walks, doing grocery shopping at the local market, simple daily chores, time outdoors and social interaction. Some residents emphasize curiosity, calm, and social habits as part of daily life.

# What this means for someone thinking about their own health

The Rugao evidence suggests multiple, concrete practices associated with healthier aging in that population: a diet high in vegetables and legumes, daily physical activity at a moderate level, maintaining social contact and purposeful daily routines. It also shows that local environmental factors and nontraditional medical risk patterns can be important to examine.

# Bottom line

Rugao is a concentrated real-world study: a mixture of demographic data, long-term cohort research, nutritional analysis and on-the-ground interviews. The story that emerges is not a single cause but a set of recurring behaviors, dietary patterns and local conditions that together appear with higher-than-expected rates of extreme longevity.