Liu first international headlines in May of last year, when she revealed that people often mistake her for her 23-year-old son’s girlfriend, a statement that was confirmed both by her son, Xie Yixuan, and by photos of them together. Since then, she’s been growing her following on Chinese social media platform Weibo, where she currently has over 150,000 fans, and building a presence on Instagram as well.
“My mum has always been beautiful. When she was young, she was considered the prettiest girl at her school,” Xie Xuan told reporters last year. “I’d say as time goes by, she’s even prettier now.”
While good genes may have something to do with the 50-year-old’s enviable looks, she credits exercise as the most important part of her anti-aging efforts. She discovered swimming 30 years ago, and still practices almost every day. She also does weight training every day, practices yoga and swims in ice-cold water. Whatever the season, Liu Yelin says she exercises a few hours daily.
Last year, Liu swam across the Malaysian Strait, a distance of 7.45 miles in four hours, and in 2016, she swam across the Yangtse River in China and Han River in South Korea.
A few years ago, Liu Yelin said that her dream is to still look good in a bikini at 80-years-old. She might just pull it off. She also added that she hopes her success will inspire other women to exercise for a “more beautiful and confident self”.
Liu Yelin is just one of several Asian “ladies of eternal youth”. In the past, we’ve also featured Chinese weather girl Yang Dan, Japanese ageless goddess Masako Mizutani, and Taiwanese designer Lure Hsu.
