Zhang Liangui, 68, practices Taiji sword at the Temple of Heaven park in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Meng Tao)
BEIJING, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- October 25 marks the Double Ninth Festival, also known as Chongyang Festival in China. It is an annual festival to show respect and care for the elderly throughout China.
To increase awareness of aging problems in the international community, the United Nations established Oct. 1 as the International Day of Older Persons in 1991. Besides, countries around the world also have their own special days or festivals to honor senior citizens.
On the occasion of China's Chongyang Festival, let's take a look at how the elderly around the globe live amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
An elderly prepares to taste a piece of cake during a collective birthday party for the elderly at a community in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Oct. 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)
Actresses perform for the elderly at a community in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Oct. 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)
An elderly woman interacts with a medical worker at Longhui-weiyuan hospital in Longhui County, central China's Hunan Province, Oct. 12, 2020. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)
An elderly man wearing a mask visits the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, Sept. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
An elderly man takes pictures on a street in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 10, 2020. (Photo by Osman Orsal/Xinhua)
Elderlies walk on a street in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 10, 2020. (Photo by Osman Orsal/Xinhua)
Palestinian Mohammad Hussein displays a wooden sculpture made by him at his home in the village of A'nin, close to the northern West Bank town of Jenin, Jan. 14, 2020. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)
Czech Singer Robert Krajco performs during a concert for the elderly amid the COVID-19 pandemic at a nursing home in Uvaly, the Czech Republic, April 18, 2020. (Photo by Dana Kesnerova/Xinhua)
An elderly couple wearing face masks sit on a bench in the main square of Skopje, capital of North Macedonia, on June 8, 2020. (Photo by Tomislav Georgiev/Xinhua)
An elderly man jogs in a park in Dublin, Ireland, May 5, 2020. (Xinhua)
An elderly couple relax on a bench at a park in Moscow, Russia, on July 4, 2020. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/Xinhua)
Palestinian elderly woman Shalabya al-baba drives a car belonging to a driving school during her lesson in the West Bank City of Hebron, March 3, 2020. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Xinhua)
A passenger(L) carries his luggage after disembarking from the "Diamond Princess", a cruise ship which has been kept in quarantine at the port of Yokohama in Japan, Feb. 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)■
