Meet 127-year-old Luo Meizhen: the oldest person that ever lived?

A woman who claims to be the world's oldest person has allegedly celebrated her 127th birthday.

Luo Meizhen lives with her only son, who she reportedly gave birth to at the age of 61, in Bama, south China's Guangxi province.

She was born on July 9, 1885 in the Chinese lunar calendar, which this year fell on August 25 in the international calendar. That would make her 127 - five years older than the verified oldest person who ever lived.

At a birthday party held in her honour Luo ate a bowl of rice, two slices of pork, a piece of duck meat and chicken, and two pieces of cake.


Lou's claim to be 127 is likely to be met with a large dose of scepticism.

The verified oldest person in the world turned 116 just last month.

Besse Cooper, from Monroe, Georgia, rang in her 117th year of life on August 26, surrounded by friends and family at the nursing home where she now lives.

When asked about her secret to long life, Mrs Cooper told Guinness World Records: 'I mind my own business and I don't eat junk food.'

She was born on August 26, 1896, in Sullivan, Tennessee and moved to Georgia in 1917.

Besse has 12 grandchildren and a slew of great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren.

The verified oldest person to have ever lived was Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who was born in 1875 and died in 1997 aged 122 years and 164 days old.