Foreign journalists visit local community to see China's care for elders
By Xu Zheqi
People's Daily app
1569419137000

Journalists from the Belt and Road News Network (BRNN) Media Workshop Wednesday visited the Red Plum Blossom community in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, to see how Chinese elders spend their time and how local communities take care of them.

微信图片_20190925192454.jpg

BRNN Media Workshop journalists enjoy local elder's paper-cuttings in Jianggan District, Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province. (Photos: People's Daily/Xu Zheqi)

The Red Plum Blossom community is located north of Zhalongkou Street, Jianggan District in Hangzhou. The area is 158,000 square meters, with 2,592 households, 1,097 people over the age of 60 and 223 over 80.

The community was originally a water pump room, later transformed into a health center to satisfy the needs of elder people.

The health center is equipped with various medical instruments like wrist electronic sphygmomanometers, heart detectors, blood glucose meters, pulse monitors and other wearable intelligent monitoring equipment, offering basic health data monitoring services.

The foreign journalists, mainly from Latin America, were amazed that a local community of China can combine cutting-edge technology and equipment to care for elders. 

"I think this form of service is really great. The application of new technology and sophisticated equipment surprises me a lot! It's really helpful for aged people," said Alejandro Garza, Sub-director of International News, Notimex, Mexico.

微信图片_20190925211639.jpg

BRNN Media Workshop journalists watch and record how a Chinese old man does carpentry.

Zhalongkou Street also has a university for the aged. Elder people can take part in courses like yoga, paper-cutting, Taiji, painting, carpentry, and calligraphy.

Elders in the community displayed Chinese folk art paper-cutting to the foreign journalists, and taught them how to wrap a bundle of flowers. They gave their completed paper-cuts and wrapped flowers to the foreign journalists as gifts.

微信图片_20190925211710.jpg

Local elders teach foreign journalists how to wrap flowers.

The richness and fitness in China's elders surprised the journalists. "Such creative activities as paper-cutting and carpentry assures the joy of lives of the aged people," said Andrés Flores, a journalist from A24 TV, Argentina.

The demands of the elderly are increasing as living standards continue to improve, especially in the case of the improvement of household elder services. The elders' need for better and easier medical and healthcare services has increased over the years. The Red Plum Blossom community sets an example for Latin America countries.

"We can learn a lot from China's service systems for elderly care. If such a mode can be applied in Peru, the lives of local elders can be improved," said Cinthia Velarde, a journalist from Agencia de Noticias Andina, Peru.