Community spirit enlivens nation's golden agers

As soon as Chen Xuemin received her pension last month, she made a donation to her local community theater.

The theater's director, Nong Miaomiao, who lives in the same Beijing community, had heard at the end of August that Chen's husband was seriously ill. Along with 20 other people, Chen made a video of their latest performances, and sent it with their best wishes to the couple. It was the last performance Chen's husband ever saw.

The theater, created by the district government and Tsinghua University in 2014, was conceived as an experiment in bringing together senior citizens to administer their own community activities.