"I think it is a terrific episode that provides perspective on the changes to our bodies as we get old. It raises the important question of how we look at aging," Fan says, adding that hollow praise of aging is absurd and those who stubbornly resist aging are cowardly.

Through the camera, viewers get a glimpse of these stories of bathing, which express the pain of life but also portray its dignity.

As French writer Simone de Beauvoir states in Old Age, "It is old age, rather than death, that is to be contrasted with life. Old age is life's parody, whereas death transforms life into a destiny: In a way it preserves it by giving it the absolute dimension."

Contact the writer at wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn