Zen simple: Japanese Grandma Kinoe

Bodhidharma must be kidding because there's so much we can do, beginning with appreciation

(Lizzy Grant) Before she was Lana Del Rey, she wrote "Gramma" (about bad boy Axl Rose) #LDR

Japanese grandmother leads simple Zen life

(Japanese Grandma Kinoe) Living alone in the Japanese countryside: a day in the life of 93-year-old Grandmother Kinoe.

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  Minamoto Yoshiie at Nakoso barrier

  Wisdom Quarterly: Gramma Kinoe, should Lana Del Rey keep obsessing about love, relationships, men, lesbian summer crushes...
• Grandma Kinoe: What's a summer crush?
• WQ: It's like when, you know how sometimes at the all-girl schools in Japan you get carried away admiring the little uniforms they make us wear, and two students get, um, carried away?
• GK: Oh, you mean rezu-dōseiai (女性同性愛者).
• WQ: I guess. Lana just does it for attention and to be inclusive of her big LGBT fanbase.
• GK: What's a fan base?
• WQ: It's sort of, never mind that.
• GK: I mind that!
• WQ: It's like a base, for a fan, or fans.
• GK: Oh, you mean tessen (鉄扇) like for war.
• WQ: Yes, exactly. Look, you're living the "Zen" life. What's it like? Shouldn't you move to a temple nunnery-monastery (zendo) where everyone practices proper form, slows down, and goes the Way of the Tao, with the flow and wu-wei (noninterference)?
• GK: You mean seppuku (切腹, harakiri [ritual suicide])?!



Why does J art look cartoonish?

• WQ: No, no, like royal forms and formalities but in a dojo, bowing and turning, taking your shoes off and sitting correctly for zazen on zafu and zabuton, meditation cushion and mat.
• GK: Oh, you mean go to the senbutsu-jō (選仏場)? I can do that in the comfort of my own home...if my darn grandkids didn't keep filming me for these silly YouTube videos. What is a you tube anyway?
• WQ: It's like a tube for you.
• GK: Oh, you mean shiso-arabiki (粗びき) [sausage].
• WQ: No, no! That's pig slaughter and offal; YouTube is more like crockpot TikTok pig butchering and awful.
• GK: What's offal/awful?
• WQ: YouTube is. It's really gone downhill since all the corporate Google censorship.
• GK: OK, OK, enough chit-chatty. Let's listen to soothing music and talk about 21 healthy foods to add to diet.
• WQ: Yeah, good idea, Gramma.
• GK: "Gramma"? I'm Kinoe! Why does that girl keeping calling me "Gramma"?
• WQ: She's trying to perfect her practice of wabi-sabi (侘び寂び).
• GK: Oh, that makes sense! Good for her. Good luck, Lezzie!
• WQ: No, Grandma! It's Lizzy or Lana now.

Healing sounds of Japanese Zen

Healing sounds of Zen • eliminate negative energy • calm body and mind

Zen: The Art of Simple Living

Zen: The Art of Simple

Editor/translator Allison Markin Powell (shown here smiling) and author Shunmyo Masuno have 4.6 out of 5 stars (with 3,688 reviews) for this handy little guide. Relax and find happiness amid the swirl of the modern world with this internationally bestselling guide to simplifying life by a Japanese Buddhist priest who embodies the wisdom of Zen.

Drawing on centuries of wisdom, renowned Zen Buddhist Shunmyo Masuno applies the essence of Zen to modern life in clear, practical, easily adopted lessons -- one a day for 100 days. Discover how:

• lining up our shoes after we take them off can bring order to our lives
• putting down our forks after every bite can help us feel more grateful for what we have
• spending time barefoot can strengthen our bodies
• planting a flower and watching it grow can teach us to embrace change
• going outside to watch the sunset can make every day feel celebratory.

Author Zen Priest Shunmyo Masumo

In Zen: The Art of Simple Living, readers will learn to find happiness not by seeking out extraordinary experiences but by [moments of appreciation and] making small changes -- to what we do, how we think, how we interact with others, and how we APPRECIATE the present moment (yes, this one right NOW).

[This is what the historical Buddha called sati or "mindful awareness," diligence, vigilance, conscientiousness, wakefulness, and MINDFULNESS].

With each task, we open ourselves up to a renewed sense of peace and inner calm. More

Maybe centenarians are what they eat?

(PhytoWise) 21 foods that make Japanese people virtually immune to any illness for longevity

1. natto (whole fermented soybean)
2. miso (fermented soybean paste)
3. tofu (vegan soymilk bean curd cheese protein)
4. edamame (young saltwater boiled soy pods)
5. shoyu (umami savory soy sauce)
6. tsukemono (lactic acid pickles, sauerkraut)
7. [taiyaki] (murdered cooked fish)
8. sashimi (murdered raw fish, omega fatty acids)*
9. wakame, nori, and kombu (mineral-rich seaweed)
10. shirasu don (bowl of warm rice, calcium topping)
11. daikon winter radish (enzyme-rich)
12. beni imo (Okinawan-purple-sweet potato, anthocyanins)
13. shiitake and other mushrooms (dried savory beta-glucan)
14. goya bitter melon (bitter gourd, Momordica charantia)
15. J-rice (white and brown, polished and whole integral)
16. soba (buckwheat noodles, gluten-free with its own toxin)
17. matcha (green tea, phytonutrient-rich, antioxidant catechins)
18. yuzu (flavonoid-rich citrus zest, usually for warm soaking)
19. wasabi (horseradish vegetable with antimicrobial powers)
20. umeboshi (salted fermented citric acid apricot-like plum)
21. [*hemp seeds (raw Cannabis sativa, protein, EFA-rich)].

(Dan Martin) Eat like it's Japan every morning (one simple prep)

Unseen Japan: magical land of many worlds

UNSEEN JAPAN | The Secret and Incredible Places in Japan | Travel Video

(World Travel Doc) May 16, 2026: This documentary is a guide through the most extraordinary places in Japan, perfect for planning a trip. Discover wonderful Buddhist Japan through spectacular images and fascinating stories for an unforgettable journey through unseen places that will leave viewers breathless.

I think it's very wabi-sabi. Good work!

01:48 - Yakushima. 04:20 - Ishigaki and Yaeyama Islands. 07:09 - Shirakawa'go. 09:46 - Koyasan. 12:44 - Ise. 15:29 - Hakone. 18:15 - Nikko. 20:59 - Kanazawa. 23:42 - Takayama. 26:37 - Japanese Alps/Nagano. 29:28 - Mount Fuji. 33:14 - Kamakura. 36:12 - Yokohama. 39:03 - Tokyo. 43:12 - Kyoto. 47:09 - Arashiyama. 49:54 - Outro – Japan Beyond the Postcard.

Is this "hardcore" enough for you, American Zen Priest Brad Warner, the punk-monk?

• Egypt's Book of the Dead buried for thousands of years (MSN)
• Jeadora: ZenChic bra, seamless sexy push up wireless brassiere
• Grandma Kinoe; Lana Del Rey (as young Lizzy Grant); Shunmyo Masumo, Allison Markin Powell; Healing Zen Sounds; PhytoWise; Dan Martin; World Travel Doc; Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How to live to be 200-300 years old

(Lei's Looking Glass)

Aryan non-Muslims of Pakistan: Kalash

The last pagans (non-Muslims) of Pakistan 🇵🇰

Matt Shoe visits Indo-Aryan Afghanistan

(Matt Shoe) In this video, I set out on a ride from Islamabad to the Kalash Valley to find the last remaining (Indo-Aryan) Kalash people — one of the most original and ancient cultures in the region.

• Hunza Valley for longevity (criticalhealthnews.com)
• [The blue-eyed historical Buddha was from Central Asia, Afghanistan (likely in the three seasonal capitals of Bamiyan, Kabul or Kapilavastu, and Mes Aynak in ancient Gandhara), from the foothills of the Hindu Kush, part of the Himalayan Range.]
• Shout out to pakistanbikers.com who set me up with the motorcycle for this adventure! 💪

Indo-Aryan peoples in Pakistan? (wiki)

I rented a motorcycle from PakistanBikers and started the long ride through rainstorms, mountain roads, and small villages. Along the way, I met friendly locals, saw incredible landscapes, and got a real taste of life in northern Pakistan.

After hours of riding, I finally reached the Kalash Valleys — Birir, Rumbur, and Bumburet. I spent the night in Birir, learning about their history, traditions, and the stories passed down for generations.

The next day, I visited Rumbur, where I witnessed something truly rare — an ancient funeral ceremony that few outsiders ever get to see. This was one of the most meaningful trips I’ve ever done — a glimpse into a culture fighting to keep its identity alive in the modern world.

My eBooks: Guides: mattshoe.travel/guides. Follow on socials: Instagram (themattshoe), Facebook (mattshoeyoutube), TikTok (mattshoetravel). Business enquires: contact@mattshoe.travel

•  Matt Shoe, Oct. 11, 2025; Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Longevity of the Buddhist-Bon Hunza people

HUNZA RIVER VALLEY, Pakistan - The mystery of the longevity of the formerly Buddhist and Bon Hunza (prior to Islamic invasion and forced conversion, leaving them as Shia Muslims). The Hunza are the people who do not age and live to be 120-140 years old.

(Unraveling the Scriptures) ✪ Members first on July 4, 2024. Ever imagine living to be 120 years old or reaching 140 while looking like a teenager? Or reaching 80 years old while looking 40 and remaining healthy? This video talks about the mystery of the Hunza people in Indo-Pakistan (formerly India before the Partition of 1947).

Tibet was a massive empire, with Lhasa as its capital, and Gilgit (Hunza) circle at left.

• 
  "Bon" refers to the indigenous shamanic traditions of these mountains, as practiced throughout the Tibetan Empire prior to Buddhism, at which time it melded with the esoteric teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism throughout the Himalayas.
• American longevity expert Dr. Joel Wallach (criticialhealthnews.com) insists the biblical phrase "land of milk and honey" does not refer to dairy and bee products but rather the frothy mineral rich waters coming down from glacial mountain streams and fruit nectar from trees growing on rugged terrain.

What are the secrets, to live in peace and not kill?

The Buddhist mountain people of Hunza take cold plunges, breathe fresh air, exercise daily, play sports until 100, eat mineral-rich food from the hills and valley, eat fresh low caloric foods, and live happily in close community. This is the Hunza River below the Himalayas and Karakoram ranges (close to the tallest mountain in the world, which is likely K2 rather than Everest), where beauty is the norm, much like the Buddha (Prince Siddhartha Gautama of neighboring Bamiyan, Afghanistan, called Kapilavastu in Gandhara in ancient times).

• Two main secrets of Hunza longevity (Prama) In sum, there are the two main secrets to the Hunza longevity lifestyle. The first is a stress-reducing, cheerful, optimistic, and celebratory lifestyle. The Hunza are known for their many family gatherings and festivals. The second is a nutrient dense diet free of sugar and processed foods, very low animal fat intake, and a nutritional regime high in nutrient rich plants—as well as probiotics from kefir and fermented foods.
• Hunza Valley culture: people born in the mountains (Epic Expeditions)
• 10 essential items for women on K2 Base Camp trek (Epic Expeditions)

Hunza's Buddhist past

Buddhist Pilgrimage Tour | 2024| BOOK NOW - Hunza Adventure Tours

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Buddhism and, to a lesser extent Bön, was the primary religion in the area. The region holds several surviving Buddhist archeological sites, such as the Sacred Rock of Hunza.

Hunza Valley was central to the network of trading routes connecting Buddhist Central Asia to the subcontinent (India).

Ancient Buddhist rock carvings in Pakistan vandalized (Buddhistdoor Global)

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Ancient rock carvings look better. Hail Allah!

It also provided protection to Buddhist missionaries and wandering ascetic monks visiting the subcontinent, and the region played a significant role in the transmission of Buddhism throughout Asia [3] (along the Silk Road from the birthplace of the Buddha in Afghanistan and the birth of Buddhism in Bihar, proto-India).

Before conquest by Islam, the majority of the region practiced Buddhism. Since then, most of the population was converted to Islam.

The region has many works of graffiti in the ancient Brahmi script written on rocks (petroglyphs), produced by Buddhist monastics as a form of worship and culture [4].

With most locals being converted to Islam, those inscriptions had been mainly left ignored, destroyed, or forgotten, but they are now being restored [5].

• Unraveling the Scriptures, July 5, 2024; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Eat BEANS, Not Beings: carbs = longevity

Hilary Brueck (Business Insider); Jen Bradford, Ashley Well (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

What? You said carbs. Oh, not these kind of processed wheat-gluten white flour carbs?

In the Garden of Eden and "A Buddhist Genesis" (Agganna Sutta) humans were vegetarian.

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Plant-based "meats"

Blue Zones refer to five specific places in California, Italy, Greece, Japan, and Costa Rica. People in these 5 zones tend to live to about 100 years old, while maintaining their good health.

Beans, nuts, whole grains, and greens are staples here, while dead animal flesh and rotted dairy cheese are rarities.

Dan Buettner grew up in Minnesota during the 1960s, where the Midwesterner was fed a high-carb diet of bright yellow macaroni and cheese and sweaty red dyed hot dogs [with their allowable minimum of cockroach limbs and rat feces] wrapped inside flaky croissants.

Greens, whole grains, olives, avocado, hemp-tofu

"We DIDN'T know better," he said. But when the cyclist and storyteller started traveling around the world, and into the homes of people in locations where elders routinely live to see their 100th birthday in good health — the world's Blue Zones, as he calls them — he noticed something distinct about the ways that they were eating.

Soak and rinse them before cooking. Or sprout them. They become very digestible with no gas.

Beautiful elders: A troupe of singers and dancers in Okinawa, Japan, one of the world's five "Blue Zones," where people routinely live past 100 (Toru Yamanaka/AFP via Getty Images).

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Fresh, low sugar shakes are great for health.

The fare was nothing like his childhood diet of processed foods, but Buettner noticed that each Blue Zone kitchen did have a few staple ingredients in common.

Like his own meal plans, they were all fairly high in carbohydrates, but these Blue Zone diets centered on carbs of a different kind.

"The four pillars of every longevity diet in the world are whole grains, greens, nuts, and beans," Buettner told Insider. "When you crunch the numbers, it's very clear that it's a 90% to 100% plant-based, very-high-carbohydrate diet. About 65% carbs, but not simple carbs like muffins and cakes — complex carbs." More

• Dan Buettner on Blue Zones
• Free annual Rancho Park Vegan Thanksgiving Potluck and Picnic, Thu, Nov 23, 2023, 11:00 AM | Meetup
• (CriticalHealthNews.com) Dr. Joel Wallach: Avoid all wheat, barley, rye, oats, and buckwheat, all of which have plant lectins like gluten, avenin, and fagopyrins that strip the intestines and lead to malabsorption and malnutrition
• Scientists have identified 5 of the healthiest foods for the gut — and some are probably already in the kitchen
• Vegetarians in Paradise | Christianity Today

Longevity how-to: Oldest man in world is 123

Dhr. Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Carlos Valdez, Associated Press

Longevity or "life expectancy" (average lifespan) in demography

Aymara herder Carmelo Flores Laura may not be the oldest but he has documentation (AP)

 

The Buddha's reflection (Anekphoto/flickr)

There are beings on Earth who are far older. But with no legitimate birth or baptismal certificate, they are not likely to make themselves known for quite some time.

 

As alien and trans-dimensional "visitors" check in on their project(s) and continue to genetically manipulate and breed with the ape-like forms already developing here, namely we ordinary earthlings -- age is bound to increase. Bear in mind that there are many worlds that constitute the "human plane" (manussa loka) beside our own small population on this pale blue dot orbiting in space, which is distinguished primarily by the fortunate arising of a teacher of humans and devas. He is, of course, the supremely enlightened Buddha. There have been other sages, but this one is different and extraordinarily rare. Yes, earthling lifespans will again increase dramatically.

• Good karma for human rebirth: Five Precepts

Silence is the divine "language"

The mythological figure for how long a person can live unassisted under ordinary conditions is 80,000 years. But we will be lucky to 900 in the remainder of this aeon (kalpa), which should make our Jewish/Christian friends happy. In fact, as things descend, average lifespan will one day reach 10. But so much for mythology and cosmology, who is this 123 year old human? 

Clean environs of the Hunza Valley, Indo-Pakistan

Not since Ven. Ananda and other close associates of the historical Buddha walked the Earth have people been living to 120. So what is the "secret" to longevity? Is it praying and petitioning God/gods? Blueberry blast shakes? Steamed kale with sauteed garlic and sesame oil? Doing what you want when the he*k you want? Supplementing with Alchemical "philosopher's stone" (Ambrosia) or "distilled dew" made of evaporated rainwater that has never been allowed to touch the ground? Telomere-lengthening with Indian herbs (like clinically-proven, peer-reviewed Protandim)? Chewing Bolivian and Peruvian leaves from the Andes mountains? Mud walls and dirt floors? Live among Japanese Buddhists, who are documented by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN) to enjoy "the longest overall life expectancy at birth of any country in the world: 83.5 years for persons born in the period 2010-2015"?^{[Ref 13][Ref 14]} Live among the Hunza Muslims in their great Himalayan foothill valley? All these may help and certainly can increase the quality of life, but the Buddha taught something more directly and emphatically: karma. It is by one's course of conduct that one enjoys longevity here and hereafter, this world and worlds to come.

• Longevity Myths (Wikipedia)
• Science: Plants talk to each other!
• Why do we need [human] men anyway?
• Science is Sexy (but only on Friday nights)

The great awakening from suffering

Samsara is a long, long round (of births and deaths sufferings innumerable); nirvana is release. But before that final liberation, the ripening of deeds lead to longevity. Abstaining from taking life, from harming, beating, cudgeling, harassing, poisoning, depriving others of sustenance (food, medicine, shelter, care), and so on ripens as long life in terrestrial and celestial worlds. There are, of course, planes which one would not appreciate longevity, worlds-of-woe one may fall into so long as one has not become a stream-enterer and thereby cut off that possibility.

The Good Life

The banks of Lake Tititcaca with snowy Andes

LAKE TITICACA (Frasquia), Bolivia (AP) - If Bolivia's public records are correct, Carmelo Flores Laura is the oldest living person ever documented.
 
[One can live longer, but the key here is holding the modern bureaucratic documentation to prove it. Look at the case of the Great Avatar Babaji, 500, living in the Himalayas, or human-hybrid Yetis, or "Snowmen," in the same area, or Humanzees in Russia and Siberia, the result of Dictator Stalin's crossbreeding experiments with our kissing cousins].
 

They say he turned 123 a month ago.

The native Aymara lives in a straw-roofed dirt-floor hut in an isolated hamlet near Lake Titicaca at 13,100 feet (4,000 meters), is illiterate, speaks no [colonial] Spanish [of the European conquerors or Conquistadors], and has no teeth.

He walks without a cane and doesn't wear glasses. And though he speaks Aymara with a firm voice, one must talk into his ear to be heard.

"I see a bit dimly. I had good vision before. But I saw you coming," he tells Associated Press journalists who visit after a local TV report touts him as the world's oldest person."

 

Hobbling down a dirt path, Flores greets them with a raised arm, smiles and sits down on a rock. His gums bulge with [chewed whole untreated] coca leaf, a mild stimulant that staves off hunger. Like most Bolivian highlands peasants, he has been chewing it all his life.

Guinness World Records says the oldest living person verified by original proof of birth is Misao Okawa, a 115-year-old Japanese woman. [Women excel, and men rarely make it beyond 116.] The oldest verified age was 122 years and 164 days: Jeanne Calment of France, who died in 1997. More

Update: Debunked?

(SCPR, Aug. 17, 2013) According to KPCC FM's Off-Ramp with John Rabe, the elder Laura is only 107 according to his Baptism certificate. This is the shocking claim of UCLA's Dr. Stephen Coles, director of the Gerontology Research Group, which investigates these kinds of claims for the Guinness Book of World Records. He says he was skeptical from the start, especially because there was no documentary proof dating to the year Laura was supposedly born. "I was immediately suspicious because no man to our knowledge has ever lived past the age of 116, because 90% of people we call super-centenarians are female." More

How to live to be 100+ (video)

LongevityDVDs; Wisdom Quarterly

 

David Wolfe, a high energy vegan raw foodist motivational speaker specializing in superfoods, reveals to those attending the Women's Wellness Conference a surprising SECRET to physical health and longevity. For more information, visit longevitywarehouse.com.

Longevity Villages for Tourists

Live Long and Prosper

Stan Sesser (wsj.com)

A village in Guangxi's Bama county (wsj.com)

Poyue, China
Just being here adds years to your life -- or at least that's what elderly natives, eager government officials and hopeful visitors in this remote place contend. Poyue and several other villages near the Vietnam border in China's Guangxi Autonomous Region comprise a "longevity cluster." They claim an inordinate number of centenarians, including one said to be 113 years old. The surrounding Bama county, with a population of 250,000, has 74 centenarians, or about one for every 3,400 people, according to Luo Ronghui, a local tourism official. That's a far higher incidence than in the U.S. or even in Japan, which has one of the longest average life expectancies in the world.

• View Slideshow (Stan Sesser/The Wall Street Journal)

Experts on aging are skeptical about the existence of longevity clusters, but that hasn't blunted Bama's ambitions to become a center for health tourism. Visitors who aren't interested in the supposedly life-prolonging air or soil will still find much to admire in the region's scenic limestone karsts, mud and stone dwellings and breathtaking caverns that are a natural sculpture gallery.

Bama's plans include building upscale accommodations for foreign tourists who want a spa vacation without the costly treatments, massages and exercise regimens. The pitch: Visitors need only hang out -- breathe the air, drink the water, eat the food -- and they'll benefit.

"The treasure of longevity in Bama belongs to people all over the world," says Mr. Luo, whose office is in Bama City, a half-hour drive from the longevity villages. His expansive vision for the area's future includes a visitors' complex somewhere nearby, with separate facilities for different nationalities so that everyone will feel at home, he says. Tourism, currently no more than a trickle, could be a huge growth industry for the region. "We can accommodate 10,000 tourists a day," Mr. Luo says.

Trip Planner
Getting there: Bama City, near the longevity villages, is an eight-hour bus ride from Guilin, the big tourist spot in Guangxi Autonomous Region, or a four-hour ride from Nanning, the region's capital. Air-conditioned intercity buses are comfortable, and the roads are excellent. There is a daily flight from Guilin to Tianyang Airport, about a 90-minute taxi ride outside Bama City. Fly to Guilin or Nanning from major cities in China and some cities in Southeast Asia, including Bangkok.

Where to Stay: One option is to stay in Bama City...book through a travel agent who speaks Chinese. If you decide to stay in Nanning on the way to Bama county, try the five-star Yongjiang Hotel (1 Linjiang Rd., Tel.: 86-771-218-0888, around $65 a night...the colorful Zhongshan Road food vendors are reason enough to spend a night.

(Photo: Joe LeMonnier)

Frank Lin, a 61-year-old garment maker from Taiwan, is currently spending three months at Poyue's clean but spartan Life Extension Hotel, where a room and three meals costs the equivalent of $10 a day ($150 for a month). He came here last year with a group on a whirlwind tour of mainland China and liked it so well that he returned for another month. After 30 years of smoking, Mr. Lin says he gave up cigarettes during that month without a second thought and hasn't had one since. "When people try to quit smoking in the city, they become irritable and think about cigarettes all the time," he says. "Here, I had no reaction. Bama is really blessed by God."

Several other regions around the world are renowned for the unusually long life expectancies of their residents. No group investigates and certifies longevity-cluster claims, however, and no two lists of them are the same. The Caucasus Mountains in Russia, the Japanese island of Okinawa and the mountain town of Vilcabamba, Ecuador, are often mentioned. Dan Buettner, author of a book published by National Geographic earlier this year about diet and lifestyle in longevity clusters, even identifies a group of Seventh-day Adventists living in Loma Linda, Calif. Possible explanations range from eating yogurt (the Caucasus) to eating very little meat (Okinawa) to drinking water from melting glaciers (Vilcabamba).

Genetics is by far the most important factor, says Thomas Perls, associate professor of medicine and geriatrics at Boston University's School of Medicine and head of the New England Centenarian Study. The notion that something in the air, water or soil can prolong life is "nonsense," he says.

And longevity claims are only as credible as the birth records they're based on. Many places can't document the ages of the people in their purported cluster. "A lot of the literature is filled with testimonials and anecdotes, but never any scientific evidence," Prof. Perls says. Longevity clusters are "mostly a marketing ploy."

Don't tell anyone in Bama county, though. Water from the local river comes from springs and is considered so pure that it is drunk without treatment or filtration. I had three glasses of it during lunch at the Life Extension Hotel; it tasted fine and produced no gastric distress. Residents freely bat around terms that translate as "low alkalinity" and "magnetic fields" when describing the soil and water. Because local animals drink the local water and eat local plants, "their meat is different," says Mr. Lin, the Taiwanese visitor. "People eat fatty meat here, but they're all thin. You never hear of a cancer case."

Huang Malun, at left, says she is 107 and traveled with Red Army soldiers (Stan Sesser / The Wall Street Journal).

Another believer is Huang Malun, who says she is 107. She and a dozen family members span five generations and all live in the same tiny house in Poyue. A wrinkled, sweet-tempered woman who walks with the aid of a cane, Ms. Huang recalls traveling with revolutionary Red Army soldiers decades ago; she helped their cause by making their clothes. "We lived on wild vegetables," she says. "All the hardships were very tough." How does she explain her long life? "Organic food and the good air," she says. "I ate all naturally grown food. Now they use chemicals, and of course it's going to hurt."

In Bama City, the four-star Longevity Hotel sells everything from Long Life bottled water to snakes coiled in a jar of alcohol (a staple of Chinese medicine). The hotel travel agency found a car and driver to take me, my translator and a guide to the villages for $30 a day. But we could find no one in the county who spoke even a few words of English. In the tourist center of Guilin, a one-day drive or a one-hour flight from Bama City, travel agencies have guides for hire that will set you back about $100 a day or more, plus expenses.

Fountains of Youth?
Here are four more places reputed to have large centenarian populations:

The Caucasus Mountains of Eurasia: The inhabitants are often said to live to an old age because their diet is rich in yogurt (Getty Images).

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Okinawa The Japanese island of Okinawa, where the local diet includes little meat, claims an extraordinary number of centenarians (Getty Images).

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Vilcabamba, Ecuador This mountain town's residents thrive, legend has it, because they drink water from melted glaciers (EFE/Zuma Press, Ecuador).

Loma Linda, California A recent book has identified a longevity cluster among a community of Seventh-day Adventists here (Matt Korner CA).

The road from Bama City to Poyue looks out at dramatic tree-lined rock outcroppings, the sort that inspired China's famous brushstroke paintings. Some locals say a supposedly high concentration of negative ions in the atmosphere -- remember the fad for home ion generators? -- inspires a feeling of exhilaration and explains residents' longevity tendencies. That may be -- but the scenery is so exhilarating that it's hard to believe that negatively charged particles could make much difference.

The longevity villages, with their stone or mud-brick houses and tile roofs, make for some scenic walking. Lunch at the Life Extension Hotel was delicious, although it's hard to tell if it was life-prolonging. The big bonus, though, was the Hundred Demon Cave, a network of caverns with immense rock hangings, like a vast sculpture gallery. The local government has built 2.5 miles of illuminated concrete walkways, with railings on steep portions, making for what is surely one of the world's most tourist-friendly caves -- despite the almost complete lack of tourists. Our guide said she sees a foreign visitor about once every two weeks.

The cave is popular among locals, however; they gather each morning to talk and play mah-jongg. They come because the cave's negative ion reading is supposedly off the charts. It was there that I met 84-year-old Guan Rongcang, a retired teacher who moved to Poyue four years ago. He is a walking commercial for Poyue's negative ions, bicycling twice a week into Bama City to shop -- a 36-mile round-trip. "I'm famous in this area for my bike rides," he says. "Everyone knows me."