She travels the world on her faithful “iron horse” and is considered the symbol of freedom from the idea of “declining years”.
Huang Yan-Zhen was born in Fujian, in 1944. Now she lives in Xiamen with her already grown-up children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In January, 2016, she won the local beauty contest and was invited to Beijing for the award ceremony as “China’s most fashionable grandmother”. She’s now convinced that age doesn’t mean anything: everyone has the right to dream and strive for the best.
In 1980, Qinghai-Tibet railway was built. Since then, the woman has had a cherished dream – to see the beauty of Tibet with her own eyes. But back in those days, it was impossible. She had to work a lot at the metallurgical plant in Xiamen to support her children. Later, her health condition pushed all the dreams into the background, and it seemed that dreams would forever remain in the imagination. However, the victory in the beauty contest gave Huang more self-confidence. She told her children about her dream, and they decided to help their mother realize it. Well, they were thinking of a trip to Tibet by train. And when Huang told them she wanted to go there alone on a motorcycle, the children were terribly surprised.
After a hip injury in 2015, doctors forbade the woman to even get on a bicycle, and here she is dreaming about a drive. However, Huang stuck with her dream and strived for her own freedom.
Since 2016, the grandma has been travelling the world on her “iron horse”. She realized her dream and bought a motorcycle, quickly learned how to ride it, and now even young people envy her.
Her first stop was, of course, Tibet. Huang climbed the mountains, took a walk in the wilderness and rode camels. She wrote about all her adventures in her blog, that millions of people follow even today.
“Everyone says, that after 70, the woman should stay at home, wear baggy rags and stop dreaming about future. But no matter what, a woman is a woman. She can and should remain elegant, attractive and free from stereotypes. And it’s never too late to dream about the impossible. As long as you strive for beauty, it will definitely stick with you”…
