Every morning around 9 o'clock, he puts on his old army overcoat and leaves his apartment on the fifth floor of an old building near Dongzhongjie Street in east Beijing.

His destination is always the same, the 20-square-meter recreation room in a corner of his compound.

In the room are two tables prepared for the playing of poker or mahjong. More importantly, several smiling faces, as old as his own, greet Yang every morning as he enters the room. And Yang is never the last to join the party.

The room, which offers free recreation, was put up by the area’s neighborhood committee last November.

Li Jin, director of the committee, said the room was a special gift to the elderly in the area, many of whom live alone.

“You can imagine how dull life is for these elderly people. Having a chat together is a major pastime for them,” he said. “But it would be impossible for them to chat during Beijing’s harsh winters without a warm place to go.”

As such, when the committee managed to save some money last year, Li decided to build the recreation room.

Although the room was warmly received, Li admits it has limitations. It is too small and it provides only poker and mahjong as entertainment.

“If we had more money and personnel, we might be able to serve our aged people better. We might be able to do things like regular medical examinations and provide meals,” he said.

Beijing now has 1.88 million elderly people, 14.6 percent of its permanent population. The number that will jump to 4.16 million, 30 percent, by 2025, according to a report by the Beijing Municipal People’s Political Consultative Conference.

More alarming is that 34 percent of the city’s aged people are living by themselves, 8.2 percentage points higher than that of the country’s average.

To reduce the pressure on the young, local governments have been working for three years on establishing facilities especially devoted to the elderly.

According to the report, by the end of last February, the capital had 308 homes for the elderly with 11,000 beds and 4,800 recreation rooms for the aged.

A 4,000-square-meter comprehensive service center for the elderly and an 8,000-square-meter recreation center for aged people are to be completed soon.

Unlike the recreation rooms, the homes for the elderly are not so popular because they are too expensive or poorly equipped.

But a survey conducted by the Beijing Municipal People’s Political Consultative Conference did indicate that most of the elderly have an inclination to pass their last years in a home, instead of in their children’s houses

(China Daily 01/03/2001)