Not your regular grandfather

Wang wowed the country in 2015 after he showed off his toned physique on the runway during China Fashion Week in Beijing.

Occupation

A native of Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning province, he grew up in a time when his home province was occupied by Japanese troops.

Despite his father having a job as a cook, he was made to scour the train tracks every morning for coal dust that could be exchanged for pancakes, so as to help his parents feed his eight other siblings. He believes his mother gave birth to more than 10 children but only nine survived the harsh winter and hunger.

"Every morning when I left for the train station, I would see two people pushing a cart and picking up dead people who either froze or starved to death. They looked just like garbage collectors picking up trash from the street," he said.

"A biographer once asked me about my relationship with my mother. I told him we didn't have a relationship," he added.

Before starting his acting career in his early 20s, Wang worked as a bus conductor and a military factory worker. However, he had a yearning to be on a stage and he sought out this calling by signing up for free training classes offered by the local Workers' Cultural Palace, thus beginning his stage career at his hometown that spanned more than 20 years.

In 1979, after fainting several times on and off the stage, he was diagnosed with autonomic nerve disorder. He attributed it to the Stanislavski's acting system he had embraced. The doctor advised him to stop acting before the disorder developed further into more serious mental problems.

Wang decided to go with a less emotionally draining alternative - pantomime. At the age of 49, he relocated his whole family to Beijing, the only city in China where he believed pantomime would be appreciated. To prepare himself for the role, he joined the only gym in Beijing.

"It wasn't about looking good or leading a healthy lifestyle. I was doing it because you need a good body to convey the message in pantomime," said Wang.

He would labor for hours in the gym every day. He still continues to do so.

The family soon got in on the pantomime act as well. Wang's wife was the playwright and director. His daughter, a student of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, was the piano obbligato. His son became the anchorman and gaffer.

While the family's performances were well-received, they nevertheless struggled to make ends meet. Back in 1980s Beijing where it was illegal to rent homes, Wang and his family ended up as vagabonds who had to constantly move between the homes of their friends in the capital.

"Those were tough times but they were also some of the happiest in my life," he said.