Insights about what matters most in life from 11 people more than 100 years old in Hezhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. Reporter Zhang Li, dialect translator Li Ziyu and photographer Huang Xiaotao tell the stories.

Yang Sugui, 102

Yang married at age 15 and never attended school. She gave birth to eight children. "In the darkest days, we didn't have enough rice to support the big family, so I went into the mountains to dig edible herbs to fill our bellies instead of giving my children away, as many people did," she said at her home in Fuchuan Yao autonomous county.

"No one in my family was allowed to shout or scream at each other. My children grew up in peace and harmony."