Parents feel loss as more children go abroad

'Empty nest' families discover ways to bring more happiness into life

When retiree Ren Chunqing's daughter went to Japan to study two years ago, they communicated via video and telephone almost every day.

"I missed her very much in the first month, worrying that she couldn't adapt to the new environment, couldn't entirely understand Japanese and that the teaching method was different in foreign universities," said 51-year-old Ren, who is from Shanxi province.