In a village in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, a center whose name translates as "happy mutual aid" offers two meals a day to over 20 senior citizens.
Each day, the elderly villagers of Wenhua Village gather in the center to enjoy their meals and chat. Some also bring vegetables they have grown or help in the kitchen, which largely relies on social donations for its operations.
Li Huizhi, a retiree who pioneered the institution two years ago, said the place not only helps feed the elderly customers, but also helps them feel less lonely. "Many of the elderly live alone because their children have left home in search of better job opportunities," Li added.
With 120 million people in rural areas aged 60 or above, China has been exploring diverse and targeted solutions to care for seniors scattered across vast rural areas. They generally have lower incomes than their urban peers and are less willing to live in commercial institutions for daily care.
In June this year, the Chinese government issued a national-level guideline specifically on promoting rural elderly care. The document called for joint participation from the government, villages, non-profit organizations, companies and financial institutions to support the cause.
Data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs shows that China currently has around 16,000 rural elderly care nursing homes that collectively provide over 1.68 million beds. The rural areas are also home to around 145,000 mutual-aid elderly care facilities.
Lu Jiehua, deputy director of the Peking University Center for Healthy Aging and Development, expects China to find the most suitable models of elderly care in the coming years based on grassroots experiences, which include pooling together villagers for mutual aid and integrating medical and elderly care services.
Li Yuqing, 54, is a member of the mutual aid team in a village in the mountainous Miyun District, Beijing. She often visits the homes of her more senior neighbors and checks on their state of health.
"Our team members carry medical kits containing common drugs and tools to test the blood pressure and blood sugar levels of the seniors," Li said.
They are part of the local government's effort to employ public-spirited villagers in their 40s and 50s to help elderly neighbors living alone. Each of the younger villagers is designated 10 neighbors nearby to help with cleaning, shopping and accessing medical services.
Zhang Hao, an official with the civil affairs bureau of Miyun, said this model of villagers helping their elderly neighbors suits areas like Miyun because the villages are far away from each other and the elderly are not willing to live in commercial nursing homes.
Apart from mobilizing rural residents, local governments are also pinning hopes on eligible businesses providing door-to-door services to rural seniors.
Lang Zhizun, who runs an elderly care service company in Beijing, said they provide door-to-door services for rural elderly people four times a month, and the local civil affairs bureau pays for it. "We talk to the seniors first and offer help according to their requests," he said.
Experts believe more input is needed from both the government and social organizations to increase elderly care services and facilities in rural areas, and to optimize the whole system.
In the June document, China set the targets for the further improvement of its rural elderly care service network by 2025. The overall coverage rate of elderly care service centers at the township level will be no less than 60 percent, it noted.
Lu Zhiyuan, minister of civil affairs, has pledged greater efforts to shore up the weaknesses in rural elderly care and ensure the accessibility of basic elderly care services to all senior individuals.
Since 2016, China has also piloted and expanded its trials for long-term care insurance that provides recipients with caregiving guarantees and fiscal subsidies. The initiative prioritized the group of disabled or partially disabled elderly people. China also provides assistance to the low-income rural population with special difficulties, including the elderly.
"I hope more public financial resources can be directed to rural areas to genuinely improve the sense of security and happiness for the elderly there," said Lu Jiehua.