As soon as the recess bell rings, model Li Jisheng usually stretches out his arms and relaxes.

The man with a high nose, wrinkled face and long gray beard then mingles with students and chats with them in the classroom.

Li even gives a little advice to freshmen about their paintings.

At 85, Li, a former soldier, farmer and beggar, is forging out an unusual career as a model.

The elderly man works at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, and is believed to be the oldest model at arts schools in the country.

Almost every day from Monday to Friday, Li sits on stage and strikes different poses during portrait and other painting classes.

Li, who comes from a village in Taikang, central China's Henan Province, became a teaching model at the academy 10 years ago by chance.

"My new life started at the age of 75," Li told China Daily yesterday.

Currently Li said he was very satisfied with his job.

In addition to being able to support himself, Li can also feed the other three family members back in his home village.

Every month, Li sends money back home to support his wife and two grandchildren, who are now studying at a local primary school.

Li declined to reveal how much he is earning from the academy.

"And as an elderly male model, I do not have to pay special heed to diet or keeping fit, and I do not have to keep a slender figure either, unlike my young female counterparts," Li said.

"Moreover, I like to be with the young students, and many of them like me," he added.

Some students even return to the academy to visit him after they graduate.

Li is now known to many people at home and abroad, particularly among models in the country's academies of fine arts.

Many students think that Li has a unique character and style that many young people do not have.

This may come from Li's special life experience.

He joined the People's Liberation Army in 1950 and participated in the Korean War (1950-53).

He returned to his farmland after retiring from the army.

Li raised eight children, but the elderly man does not like to stay at home. So he left his village and went to the Pearl River Delta region to try his luck in 1995.

First, he begged on the streets and sometimes picked up odd jobs to support himself. One day, he was discovered by chance by a teacher with the arts academy, thanks to his unique physical features. That event totally changed his life.

He has since served as a model in many famous portraits and other works of arts in the southern province of Guangdong.

(China Daily May 17, 2005)