'Old newcomers'

The elderly now form the backbone of childcare in China, as He Na reports from Beijing.

Before her daughter gave birth, the farthest Chen Zhijuan had ever been from her home in Siping, a small city in Northeast China's Jilin province, was Dalian in neighboring Liaoning province, about 585 kilometers away.

The 59-year-old never imagined that one day she would settle in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, thousands of kilometers away in South China. She remembers she was so nervous during the flight - her first time on a plane - that she couldn't let go of the armrest on her seat.