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For this senior housing, mahjong skills a must
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-12 11:40

If you can't sing, dance or play mahjong, you'll be placed at the back of the line of applicants for senior housing in the city of Chongqing, Sichuan province.

In a break from tradition, more and more of the 1.9 million elderly in urban Chongqing, are willing to live in senior housing rather than move in with their children.

However, demand far exceeds the number of available beds. There are only 20,278 beds in homes for the aged in the city, so senior homes can afford to be picky.

When a local resident named Li went to scout out senior housing for her mother, she was asked if her mother could sing, dance and play mahjong as that would make her "more compatible" with other residents.

(Chongqing Evening News)