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Nantong is one of the regions with the largest aging populations in China. According to the data of the seventh national population census, the number of people aged 60 and above reached 2,138,600, accounting for 30.01 percent of the permanent resident population. Among them, there are 1,751,300 people aged 65 and above, accounting for 22.67 percent of the permanent resident population; the number of centenarians reached 1,236, accounting for 13.6 percent of the total number of centenarians in Jiangsu province.
On July 5, 2020, Mrs. Gong, who lives in the Fumin Community, Zhongxing Residential District in Nantong Development Zone, celebrated her 100th birthday. On that day, with her greying and dense hair combed neatly, she wore a new and beautiful gray jacket with embroidered flowers, which her children sewed. Healthy and quite talkative, she told everyone the secret of her longevity, “Sticking to a ration of three fixed meals a day and keeping a cheerful and peaceful mood.” In Nantong, there are quite a few centenarians like Mrs. Gong.
On July 28, 2020, Tang Guiying, Rugao’s first senior citizen with no financial income, no ability to work, and no family member to look after her, celebrated her 100th birthday. She used to live in Anding Garden in Rugao. When her husband died, with no children, she moved to Rugao Social Welfare Center has in August 2008. According to Tang Jinfang, her niece, the welfare center has arranged professional staff to monitor her health every day for more than ten years. The canteen provided cooked meals according to her personal preference, and caregivers offered her daily care, such as bathing, dressing, and feeding.
The Long-lived Seniors
The story of Xia Guiying, a 103-year-old woman from Binhe Dongcheng, an urban residential quarters, is more impressive. Hale and hearty, she has been climbing Langshan Mountain once or twice or three times a year for 35 years.
Mrs. Xia lives in a happy family with four generations under one roof. Her son and daughter take good care of her, and her grandchildren love and respect her. Her son, Xia Qizhong, mentioned that she can still live on her own when other family members are not at home. Thanks to the CPC and the government, she can afford her life.He added, “She gets retirement pay every month since the demolition of our old house, and the pension has kept increasing each year, now reaching RMB2,480. In addition to the retirement pension, she can get an allowance of RMB300 designated for centenarians and a portion of milk each month.” When asked of the secret about longevity, Xia Qizhong said that his mother lives a simple life and likes humble fare and that she does not have the snacks, supplements, health products, or recipes of longevity.
Many factors are contributing to the people’s longevity in Nantong. To name a few, specific historical background, eco-friendly natural environment, good social atmosphere, harmonious relationship within the family is indispensable for long-lived seniors.
First of all, an excellent external environment is a prerequisite for a longevity hotspot. There have been more and more centenarians in Nantong since the 1980s when the reform and opening up began. However, this is not merely a time coincidence but a causality. The rapid economic development in the past 40 years has greatly improved people’s living in urban and rural areas, providing the necessary material foundation for enhancing the quality of life. Approved by the central government in 1984, Nantong became one of the first 14 coastal port cities in China to open to the outside world. Since then, the city has given full play to its advantages in implementing the development strategies of Jiangsu coastal development and the YRD Integration. In the past decade, the growth of various economic indicators has been higher than that of the provincial average. At the end of 2010, all counties, cities, and districts of Nantong had comprehensively reached the provincial standard of a moderate life and continued to build a well-off society of a higher standard. The city has integrated the old-age and medical insurance schemes in urban and rural areas, and the public social security and income of urban and rural residents have been constantly improved. All these demonstrate that a sound political system and rapid economic development provide material guarantees for longevity.
Secondly, a pleasant ecological environment serves as a basis for centenarians and is a prerequisite for the longevity phenomenon to grow at a large scale in a specific region. With a unique geographic location, Nantong enjoys four distinct seasons and ideal natural conditions. With sufficient sunshine, proper rainfall, long frost-free seasons, and mild climate, the city has long been credited as the national agricultural production base and an area with stable and high yield. Therefore, it is a place quite suitable for people to live a quality life in old age.
Thirdly, a respectful and helpful atmosphere for the elderly also contributes to longevity. The traditional culture of filial piety and longevity has developed with a new connotation under new conditions. All over the city, volunteers who are ready to serve people, ordinary people who do extraordinarily good deeds, and practitioners who follow the spirit of “Mo Wensui” – a spirit of dedication – have become a social phenomenon, which has benefited a large number of seniors. Nantong’s campaign to promote cultural-ethical standards has been recognized by the Publicity Department of the CPC central Committee as the model in fostering the civic virtues. Nantong’s governments at all levels have introduced preferential policies to keep improving the social security system and subsidies for living. Social assistance has been extended to the elderly who have lost their only child, arable land, or residence, and those who are physically or mentally disabled, and those who have no financial income, have no ability to work, and have no family dependents. In addition, Nantong has implemented fund systems targeted at seniors over 80, 90, and 100 years old, respectively. The seniors are respected and cared in every aspect and live a peaceful life in their twilight years.
Besides a favorable external environment, a warm and harmonious family atmosphere and good inter-generational relations are conducive to longevity. Today, millions of families in Nantong play a vital role in providing for the elderly. Although there are more small-sized and nuclear families, family is still a carrier to maintain kinship and the main channel to develop Chinese filial culture and ethics. When seniors enter the age group of a centenarian, subject to physical restrictions like limited mobility, they have to spend much less time on outdoor activities and social interactions. At this period, a harmonious family atmosphere and inter-generational relations are crucial for the spiritual and physical well-being of the aged.
As the people in Nantong are kind and straightforward, younger generations regard supporting centenarians as honorable and admirable. The elderly mainly rely on their sons to support them by tradition, but this tradition has changed over recent years. Daughters, sons-in-law, grandchildren, and even grand-nephews show great concerns about the life of the centenarians. Therefore, the care for the aged has become more diverse.
The local government is developing an old-age service system that coordinates homes, communities, and nursing facilities and that combines medical care with health care, thus providing a strategic initiative to meet the challenges of an aging society.
With a significant increase in the number of aging and senior citizens, the demand for external help has soared. The demand falls under four categories: material support, daily care, mental health consultation, and medical care.
Elderly care services vary from one expert’s opinion to the other. Some hold that because of a huge population and a weak economy, the aged should only rely on family support. In contrast, others argue that society or the government should take advantage of social security channels. According to some resources, in a seminar on elderly care held in Nantong in 1999, some experts advocated taking home-based care for the aged as the mainstay, in which social care services, including setting up senior apartments and nursing facilities, act as a supplement. Given the current situation, the proposal is tenable and in line with the current stage of the society. Today, Nantong and other cities in Jiangsu Province and even China are following this model.
The facts have shown that nowadays, despite all the troubles encountered in the traditional pattern, it is undesirable to shift the responsibility of elderly care of thousands of families from the family to society and the government. The existing pattern conforms to the condition of China and the level of productivity at this stage, and it follows the wishes of people, especially the elderly. However, there are a lot of issues need to be addressed in home-based elderly care, so society and governments at all levels should not just stand by. A model of elderly care that better meets national standards shall be explored under the guidance of the governments.
To respond to the aging population and to improve people’s livelihood, it is imperative to strengthen the building of the system of elderly care services. Since the beginning of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, Nantong has seized the opportunity to develop an elderly service industry. Taking the chance of becoming a pilot zone for the national reform of home- and community-based services for elderly care and a national-level pilot unit for integrating medical care and elderly services, the city focuses on strengthening coordination, improving the policy system, ensuring fund guarantee, enhancing infrastructure, and standardizing service management. With the innovative progress made in the home-based and community elderly care services and comprehensive improvement in facilities, basic elderly services for urban and rural seniors in need have been ensured, thus forming a distinctive “chained mode” that integrates nursing facilities, communities, and homes.
Since 2018, Nantong has been promoting this model by encouraging nursing facilities to cooperate with communities and offer daycare services for the aged. Nantong Bureau of Civil Affairs has issued the Several Opinions on Promoting Nursing Facilities to Carry Out Home-based and Community Elderly Services in Nantong. Chongchuan District and Rugao City have been selected to implement the program. For instance, in Chongchuan District, Sanlidun Nursing Facility, Tianrun Senior Apartment, and Yangguang Senior Apartment have undertaken home-based elderly care services for Xuetian Sub-District, Hongqiao Sub-District, Guanyinshan Sub-District, and Wenfeng Sub-District. Rugao’s Changshouxing Elderly Care Company, which runs the public-funded Dingyan Town Nursing Facility, has provided home-based elderly care services for ten communities.
In recent years, with the support of a series of official policies, nursing facilities for the elderly have prospered in various forms. At the end of 2019, there were 249 nursing facilities in the city. Among them，168 were organized by pooling social forces, and 19 were public-private partnerships. There were 52,000 beds in these facilities for the elderly, of which 60.68 percent were nursing beds. A total of 70 percent of social institutions undertook home-based care for the elderly in communities, and the rate exceeded 90 percent in urban areas.
The Long-lived Seniors
Rugao has a registered population of about 1.42 million. According to statistics, at the end of January 1, 2020, there were 524 centenarians in Rugao, an increase of 84 more than the previous year. Among them, 16 centenarians were aged above 105. Liu Jigui, a 110-year-old man from Wanfu Community of Dongchen Town, was the most aged. The most aged woman was 109-year-old Sun Wenying from Yiwei Community, Changjiang Town.
As a longevity hotspot globally, Rugao has unveiled a series of policies favorable for elderly care, thus promoting the culture of filial piety and respect and assistance for the seniors.
As for the secret of Rugao’s longevity, numerous studies have found that living habits play a crucial role. First, early to bed and early to rise are essential for the elderly. Second, a moderate and varied diet contributes to their health. Centenarians are not particular about what they eat, and basic meals are sufficient for them. Rice is the staple food in Rugao. In rural areas, corn, wheat, and beans would be added. In addition to fresh vegetables, they also eat meat, fish, and eggs, with porridge and steamed rice in their three meals a day. Third, they abstain from smoking cigarettes and have only a moderate amount of alcohol. In rural areas, soft rice wine is preferred, while spirits are a rare option. Fourth, diligent work contributes to physical fitness. Having experienced the ups and downs of life, these industrious and frugal centenarians, though in their declining years, keep doing housework and farming. Fifth, they are good-tempered, optimistic, and happy in character. The vast majority of the elderly take a positive view of life, and they rarely feel depressed. They pursue harmonious relationships with their family members and neighbors. Being generous, tolerant, and good-natured when they were young, they remain open-minded and live well into old age.
The longevity here is also attributed to its culture. Many experts claim that it is reasonable to believe that longevity depends on Rugao’s culture and wisdom. The popularity of education promotes the development of culture and art. For example, many of the handicrafts of Rugao, such as bonsai, seal engraving, kites, silk carpets, and wall hangings, have developed into a unique school and enjoyed a good reputation across the country. Besides enlivening the atmosphere, an excellent cultural ambiance can create a suitable environment for locals to live a long life.
Rugao’s foods that promote longevity are pretty mouth-watering. As traditional special foods of Rugao, the specialties are popular among many diners at home and abroad, including taro, huangyacai (a kind of cabbage), ginkgo nuts, heitacai (a unique type of Chinese cabbage), Rugao radish, Xixiang sweet potatoes, Baipu dried tea, Linzi Chaogao. Since ancient times, local residents have been accustomed to eating dim sum in the morning, and they prefer cereals and ginger soup.
It is also said that Rugao’s longevity is related to its soil. The land here is rich in selenium, which has the effects of scavenging free radicals, anti-aging, and preventing cancer. Liu Jiaxi and Geng Zhanhui, researchers of the Quartermaster and Equipment Research Institute under the General Logistics Department (GLD) of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), mentioned in their book entitled, Rugao: The Revelation of Longevity that local vegetables, fruits, crops, and meat products contain various and rich antioxidant nutrients. In particular, the amount of selenium, vitamin E, and carotene in foods such as radish, corn, and ham are significantly higher than those in other areas by several to dozens of times. By analyzing the hair of Rugao residents, Chen Shuyu and others from the Chemical Experimental Teaching Center of the University of Science and Technology of China have found that it contains more calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, selenium, and other elements than that of other places of China. Among them, iron and selenium, as anti-aging trace elements, are remarkably more affluent. This fact clarifies that foods in Rugao have more minor elements than that of other regions.
In summary, the fact that there are many centenarians in Rugao is attributed to the combining effect of an agreeable external environment, happy families, and good living habits.