Almost every morning in Panjin, a city in northeast China's Liaoning Province, 68-year-old Yang Yonghua walks to a neighborhood elderly care center accompanied by his son, a local barbecue restaurant owner. At this care center, he socializes, crafts things, shares meals and receives therapy with friends.
This is China's burgeoning model of daytime elderly care, a hybrid solution bridging home care and full-time nursing homes.
Dubbed "elderly kindergarten," these centers offer a structured schedule -- breakfast, activities, lunch, naps, afternoon therapy, dinner and evening freshening up, all before families return for pickup.
"It's more interesting than home," Yang said, reflecting the sentiment of many seniors finding unexpected joy in this new routine. His son, grappling with late-night shifts at the diner, found immediate relief after the center started operation in the summer of 2023.
This shift in terms of elderly care is being propelled by both an urgent need and national policy. China's population aged 60 and over had surpassed 310 million as of the end of 2024, accounting for 22 percent of its citizens, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Recognizing that many seniors have deep ties to their communities and families, authorities are promoting neighborhood-based solutions.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs mandated community-level daytime centers offering daily care, meals, hygiene aid, emergency response and companionship. Local governments have tailored these mandates into concrete services -- bathing assistance, medical escort and housekeeping.
In the Seni District of Nagqu in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, seniors pay just 20 yuan (around 2.78 U.S. dollars) daily for lunch and dinner and more than a dozen services ranging from mahjong to therapy, while northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region is aiming for 90-percent coverage of such facilities this year.
The city of Hengshui in Hebei Province in north China has integrated businesses and community resources in launching 22 model hubs combining long-term stays, daycare, entertainment and dining for the elderly.
The impact of such initiatives resonates deeply for families like that of Li Shihua, 88, who has dementia. Attending a daycare center which specializes in cognitive care in northeast China's Dalian, her health has steadily improved, according to her family. Structured monitoring and medication management bring order and vitality to residents at this facility, significantly easing caregiver and family strain.
Notably, innovations continue to unfold. Cities like Beijing and south China's Guangzhou are piloting "co-care" spaces merging childcare and eldercare, supported by free public venues and subsidized utilities.
Underpinning this expansion is a push for the establishment of standards. Authorities have released 51 national or industry benchmarks covering safety, quality and facility ratings -- alongside over a hundred local standards.
Experts believe that for people navigating work and filial duty, these daytime havens are more than a convenience. Instead, they're becoming indispensable threads in the fabric of family life, offering community and care where it matters most -- close to home.
