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Cancer has become China's top killer, causing some 1.8 million deaths each year. However, a group of patients in Beijing remains optimistic as they deal with this often terminal illness.

Sixty-one year-old Li Wanzhen is working for an anti-cancer association in Beijing. The group's hotline offers various services for cancer patients, from basic information on the disease and suitable treatment to psychological help.

But it is surprising to know the help provider herself is a patient.

Li Wanzhen, cancer activist, said, "I am an intermediate-stage breast cancer patient. I've been fighting the disease for more than 17 years. I believe we can defeat it as long as we are confident in ourselves, and cooperate with doctors."

Li is not alone. In Beijing's Temple of Heaven Park, more than four-hundred patients get together every day to exercise, and talk to each other about their experiences.

Sixty-two year-old Qin Hongli learned he was a terminal-stage cancer patient in 2001. In the past nine years, he has never stopped exercising with friends in the park.

Qin Hongli, osteocarcinoma patient, said, "We spend every morning together. I simply forget my illness. This is key to the recovery of patients like me."

Eighty percent of the patients who meet in the park have survived for over five years after their surgery. Some enjoy an even longer life for up to 30 years.

One thing they have in common is that they do not fear or complain about the disease, and never stop feeling happy every day.

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