Rolling Past Retirement: The Seniors Fighting For Space to Skate

Shao Yefan

Roller skating is a way to stay fit, meet friends, and rebel against social norms for this group of retirees in Hangzhou

After donning his roller skates and protective pads, 76-year-old Shou Guohang begins to glide across the square next to Hangzhou’s West Lake, skillfully weaving between the passing tourists as a nearby speaker blares patriotic songs from the last century. For the past 12 years, Shou has been skating here with a group of retirees every day from 7 to 10 a.m.

His friends call him the “Iron Man,” as he has had 13 heart stents over the last few years, with three still remaining in his body. Shou isn’t the only one with underlying medical conditions in this skating club, where the members have an average age of 70. This unconventional group of silver-haired roller skaters has been wheeling across the paths next to West Lake since 2008.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, as of the end of 2022, there were more than 280 million people over 60 years old in China, accounting for almost 20 percent of the national population. Many of them aren’t enjoying a peaceful life in old age. Some are full-time carers for grandchildren while others can’t afford to retire. Those who do have time to relax have long taken to exercise like Tai Chi, square dancing, or hiking, but now some are setting their sights on something more exciting.

Roller skating, however, remains a sport mostly reserved for the young. Skaters fall often, with fractures and ankle sprains—potentially serious injuries for seniors—common. However, it’s the very risk of falling that attracts Shou to the sport.

Shou’s parents were protective of him growing up, he tells TWOC. He didn’t fulfill his dream of becoming a chauffeur because they worried he might suffer a car crash. Instead, he took a desk job at a state-owned enterprise and didn’t get a driver’s license until he retired. Though he still can’t afford to buy a car, his love affair with roller skating offers a cheaper set of wheels for him to enjoy.

Shou started skating shortly after coronary artery bypass surgery when he was 64, despite protests from his family to stay in bed and rest.

It took him over four months to master the basic skating movements, mainly by watching videos online and learning from more experienced members of the group. Back then he often fell more than 10 times a day, though he luckily avoided serious injury. “It was from constantly falling and getting up that I learned,” says Shou.

He believes skating has been beneficial to his health. “I still have strong muscles...Does this look like the muscle of an old man?“ Shou tells TWOC while showing off his biceps.

Jiang Chunhua also sees roller skating as a way for her to break free. The 63-year-old started taking care of her grandson full-time in Hangzhou in 2018. Bored at home, joined the West Lake roller skating club together with her grandson.

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