Age of readiness

Yesterday was the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, a day to pay tribute to elders. The Chinese believe that old age is like golden autumn, and worth spending with dignity and care. However, the golden years can be miserable without enough care and respect from the society.

In a meeting held over the weekend on the strategy for dealing with the growing number of seniors, how to better take care of them was described by central government officials as a matter of significance to the future of this country.

Latest statistics show that the number of people above the 60 has reached 162 million, and accounting for 12.79 percent of the population, much higher than the United Nations' threshold of 10 percent for an aging society.