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At early morning and evening, senior citizens doing their
constitutional in the public squares and parks of China’s
small towns and big cities are a common sight. The obvious
enjoyment they take in ballroom dancing, taiji boxing and
swordplay is representative of the generally happy state
of mind of China’s retired citizens -- estimated
at 143 million, or 10 percent of the population, at the
end of 2005. Their physical and spiritual wellbeing is a
matter of common public concern.
Body-Building
Since eighty-year-old Zhang retired more than 20 years ago,
he has followed a daily regimen of physical and social activity.
He gets up at 6 am, jogs for an hour, and then does his
taiji exercises. After breakfast, he either practices taiji
swordplay or partakes of an hour or two of ballroom dancing
with his wife. After supper, he goes for a two-hour stroll.
Zhang and his wife prefer to exercise in their community
compound, but many seniors opt for the wider spaces of street
squares and public parks. Grandpa Liu, for one, is a frequent
visitor to the Temple of Heaven. He arrives there at 6 am
each day and meets with his friends, to whom he then gives
free taiji classes. Liu’s wife, an accomplished
dancer in her youth, teaches her contemporaries ballroom
dancing. They both take immense satisfaction in these community
activities that are enjoyable and economical ways of staying
healthy.
A recent investigation shows that taiji boxing, qigong
and yangko dances are the most popular forms of exercise
among Chinese elders. Madame Meng is 54 and due to retire
next year. “I think I will feel lost and lonely
if I just stay at home after retirement, so I’ve
decided to join a senior choir. There is quite a choice
of them in Beijing’s parks, the one in Jingshan
Park being the biggest. Singing is one of life’s
fundamental pleasures, and next year I’ll have
time to enjoy it to the full extent.”
The scope of exercise and recreational activities for elders
has considerably expanded in the past few years. When tap
dancing hit China in 2003, senior citizens went for it in
spades. Now, as one enthusiast reports, “There
are tap dancing performances in Beihai, Jingshan and Taoranting
parks, Beijing’s Botanical Garden, and in most
community playing grounds each evening.”
Fitness clubs and centers also cater to China’s
elders. Says Zhou Min, a fitness coach at the Jingti Fitness
Club, “China’s middle-aged and seniors
are keen on body-building exercises, but generally do them
outdoors. I think certain regimens are better in an indoor
environment under the tutelage of experienced instructors,
and we offer them at very reasonable rates.”
Senior Internet Surfers
Seventy-three-year-old Zhang’s computer is
at the center of his daily activities. He first got to grips
with computer technology when his son, who works for an
IT company, gave him a used computer. After using it to
learn how to type and play games he soon found it unbearably
slow. The computer hardware know-how he had acquired enabled
him to order a newly assembled computer at an electronics
market. He now has his own blog.
His son is agreeably surprised at his father’s
computer progress: “I couldn’t believe
how easily my dad took to the computer. He is now capable
of killing viruses, installing new software and dealing
with any problem that arises completely unaided.”
Zhang senior is by no means an isolated case. As computers
become more and more common in Chinese households, elderly
Internet surfers constitute an appreciable portion of China’s
netizens. Between 2001 and 2005, those over 60 quadrupled
to 1.218 million, according to statistics from China Internet
Network Information Center. In a survey of 2,379 elders,
60 percent expressed interest in learning about computers,
more than 70 percent believed that computers can help them
to keep in touch with current events and over 40 percent
said it brought them closer to their children.
This relatively neglected section of the market prompted
Wu Hanzhang, a graduate of the Computer Department of Fudan
University in Shanghai, to design a website especially for
elders, and he and his partner’s “Laoxiaohai”
(old kids) website went into formal operation in August
2000. His first step was to make basic computer knowledge
accessible to them - an exercise that proved symbiotic as
it was welcomed by subscribers and stimulated business.
“Laoxiaohai” now offers more than
20 training courses in Shanghai. In 2005, computer training
generated RMB 250,000 (US $ 31,250) in revenue for Wu and
his partner, accounting for about one-fourth of the company’s
total income. Many large companies, including IBM, now come
to Wu for advice and with offers of cooperative arrangements
on Internet services for the elderly.
“There is currently a dearth of Internet products
and services for seniors,” says Hou Tao, deputy
chief officer of iResearch, “so it is a market
with huge potential.” In March 2005, chelder.com.cn,
the first Chinese portable website for Chinese elders, formally
began operation. It offers all kinds of network services,
including on-line communities, free e-mail, search engines
and blogs.
Senior Tours
More and more seniors now take advantage of the many tour
itineraries designed with them in mind.
Sixty-eight-year-old Li and his wife recently decided to
join a tour of Hainan Province. As all in the group are
seniors, the travel agency arranged for doctors specialized
in cardiovascular disease and orthopedics to travel with
them. Previously, all Mr and Mrs Li’s holidays
were arranged and paid by their children, but this time
they decide to go it alone, paying for and choosing their
own travel itinerary. “At first I thought holidaying
away was too expensive,” recalls Li, “but
after going on a few trips arranged by our children, I really
started to enjoy travel. We now go on at least two trips
a year, and have seen some amazing places. Our next trip
will be on the train to Tibet.”
Elders now account for about 20 percent of the total number
of Chinese tourists, according to statistics from China
National Committee on Aging. At the Third Elders’
Travel Seminar held by the Tourism Committee of the Shanghai
Aging Association in 2005, it was announced that middle-aged
and elderly travelers account for 30 to 40 percent of Shanghai’s
tolurists. Among them, 75 percent take 1 to 3 day tours
to nearby spots, and 23.75 percent join overseas tours.
Travel agencies are convinced of the development potential
of the senior travel market. In China, women retire between
the ages of 50 and 55, and men at 60 at the latest. This
means that they are still fit enough to partake in and enjoy
travel, and as such are a positive consumer force.
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