The new temples of a twilight age

In China, care of the elderly is shifting its focus from the physical to the spiritual, report Sun Li in Shaxian, Fujian province and Zheng Jinran in Yanjiao, Hebei province.

Guan Hehua never imagined that a visit to Jixiang Temple in Shaxian county, Fujian province, would result in her bidding farewell to normal family life and moving to the temple to live with 100 other seniors.

"The easy access to Buddhist sutras and daily prayers allows elderly people like me to find inner peace, which we were not able to achieve at home," said the 78-year-old who began living at the temple in 2010 and is the only Buddhist in her family.