Editor's Note:
October 9 marks the Double Ninth Festival, or Chongyang Festival, a traditional Chinese festival held on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. It has since been designated as Seniors’ Day, a day for the elderly to enjoy themselves, and for the younger generations to show their respect.
The world is rapidly ageing, with people aged 60 or over currently making up 12.3 percent of the global population, and the number set to rise to 16.5 percent by 2030, according to a 2015 report from HelpAge International.
Yet with continued technological advances and medical breakthroughs, old age is no longer a barrier to enjoying a rich and fulfilling life.
British grandma Daphne Bernard, 90 years old, celebrates the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee by jumping out of an airplane at 12,000 feet on June 5, 2012. 
98-year-old Donald Smitherman kisses his wife Marlene following a dance in Sun City, Arizona, USA on January 5, 2013. 
Elderly cheerleaders rehearse their routine in Sun City, Arizona, USA on January 7, 2013. 
79-year-old Wang Deshun walks the runway at Beijing Fashion Week in Beijing on March 25, 2015. 
A group of senior citizens cool themselves off with a refreshing foot bath on a hot summer day in Grimbergen, Belgium on July 2, 2015. 
A contestant dances in a beauty contest for elderly women held in honor of Mother’s Day in Sao Paulo, Brazil on May 10, 2012. 
Two senior citizens exercise in a home for the aged in Montevideo, Uruguay on October 5, 2007. 
British DJ Ruth Flowers, 69 years old, works at a recording studio in Paris, France on March 3, 2010. 
Khivraj Gurjar, 68 years old, shows off his yoga skills on the edge of a cliff near Jodhpur, India on December 17, 2015. 
Zhou Ling, 87 years old, poses for a fashion shoot in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province on February 7, 2015.
