A support group in East China is encouraging people with the illness to embrace life and reject despair, as Wang Zhenghua reports from Shanghai.

Aug 8 was a red letter day for a group of cancer patients from across China because they were registering to become members of a special audience at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The patients - many of whom have been told that they only have a few years or even months to live - were encouraged to save 5 yuan (75 cents) a day to buy tickets for the Games and, more important, to survive another five years so they will be able to attend the event. Their number mushroomed to more than 7,000 in just two days.