World's Oldest Couple in China with Combined Age of 217 Looks Back on 90 Years of Marriage

Feb 19, 2015 02:39 PM EST

A Chinese couple has stayed married for 90 years, making them the oldest couple in the world.

According to Alan Yu of South China Morning Post, a couple from Yuzhou, located in Henan province, has been named China's oldest couple for the third year in a row. That makes them older than the People's Republic of China itself, which was founded back in 1949.

"Though they look skinny and frail in photographs, doctors say they are both still in good health," Yu said.

A Yahoo News article identified the Chinese lovebirds as 109-year-old Ping Muhu and his wife, 108-year-old Zhang Zinniu. China's Gerontological Society has certified the couple with a combined age of 217 as the oldest in the world.

"I am just happy that I have somebody to look after me in my old age and that my wife is still going strong," Ping said.

Yahoo News reported that the couple has over 60 children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Their oldest son, Ping Changsong, is 74 years old.

"It is a bit hard to keep track of them all especially with my sight not being what it was, but I have to say we certainly don't suffer from a lack of affection," Ping said. "There always seems to be somebody visiting."

Yahoo News noted that they married in 1927, which meant the incredible pair has been together for a whopping 87 years.

"The couple's children said that the secret to the couple's longevity is a simple lifestyle and, most importantly, a simple diet," Yahoo News wrote.

Yahoo News gave an idea of how long both people were alive.

"When Ping was born at the start of the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt was U.S. President and King Edward VII had only just recognized the office of UK Prime Minister," Yahoo News wrote.

Yu reported that when either of them visits the doctor for a medical check-up, "the other reportedly gazes lovingly at their partner's face all throughout the procedure." Also, their photographs seemed to indicate that they still have affection for each other.

"One picture shows the two smiling, with the husband's arm around his wife's shoulder, and another showing the man handing his wife a piece of his food, their hands touching," Yu wrote.

According to Yu, the only other living couple who has been married for a similar amount of time hailed from Britain. That couple involved a 109-year-old man who has been married to his 102-year-old wife for almost 90 years.