DIE ÜBERHALBHUNDERTRecreation researcher Yuan believes that in high-speed urbanization China only one group really enjoys life: the over half a hundreds. I went to Beijing in order to take some portraits of these over 50-year olds - since the 1920s, but particularly during the Cultural Revolution, they experienced so many terrible things that they would really have every reason to be as miserable as sin. But the opposite is the case: the "Over half a hundreds" who meet every other morning in the parks for exercise, are the happiest people I know. I wanted to find out the reason why. Hence, I made their acquaintance, held conversations with them, recorded the in interviews on video, made photography portraits of them and experienced two different things: what the sources of real happiness are and that happiness can be learned just like learning how to ride a bike.


Kexin Zang, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2006















Selection of 35 Photographs