Zhao Muhe studies in class. (Photo/China Youth Online)
Zhao Muhe is a 105-year-old man from Taiwan. Praised by many as an ideal role model, Zhao's motto is that it's never too late to learn. He is now auditing classes at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan as he prepares to earn a PhD, China Youth Online reported.
Zhao entered National Open University in Taiwan in 1999. He commuted to school by bike every day, never missing a single class. He studied late into the night, and it only took Zhao four years to finish the 128 academic credits required to graduate, which he did at the age of 91.
Several years later, Zhao decided to continue his studies. He passed the entrance examination for Nanhua University in Taiwan and got a master's degree two years later. The 98-year-old set a Guinness World Record as the oldest postgraduate student in the world.
In 2015, Zhao started classes at National Tsing Hua University. He lives alone on the fourth floor of an old apartment building. He does his own shopping, cooking and laundry, refusing help because he claims it would make him feel old.
Zhao was born in Shandong province in 1912. Influenced by traditional Chinese culture, he studied at a private school and started to study calligraphy when he was 14. Years of practice made him a calligraphy master. Over the decades, he has donated huge sums of money raised by calligraphy charities to people in need.
Zhao held a calligraphy exhibition in Hong Kong in 2012, and also published an autobiography. As he couldn't use a computer at the time, the autobiography was written by Fang Yahui, based on Zhao's oral narration. After the book was written, Zhao decided that he should learn how to navigate the internet; now he buys his own tickets online.
