Shanghai's over-60s are going to get an online helping hand from next month as part of the city's celebrations of the Chongyang Festival.
A care online platform comprising information of the city's senior homes, policies and guides is to be launched, civil affairs authorities said yesterday.
A senior care map on the website will cover the location and the number of vacant beds of the city's 699 senior care homes, about 1,000 day care centers and senior activity rooms, for the convenience of the city's elderly people, Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau said.
The guides and practical information for seniors relating to pensions and law issues will also be included in the platform, officials said.
"Shanghai is seriously aging and the aging level is even more severe than the nation's average," said Chen Yuebin, director of the bureau's senior work department.
The city's senior population rose 5.3 percent last year from 2014 and accounted for more than 30 percent of permanent residents for the first time.
The number of people aged 60 or above reached 4.36 million by the end of last year, or 30.2 percent of permanent residents. That figure is expected to reach 5.9 million by 2025, according to Chen.
The launch of the platform is part of the city's celebrations of the Chongyang Festival on October 9, which falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month and is also known as the Double Ninth Festival. It is a day to honor seniors.
The monthlong celebration will also include a gala, a free legal consultation event for seniors at Fuxing Park, a climb up Sheshan Hill as climbing a mountain is a tradition of the festival, and charity activities, according to the bureau.
The city's new "longevity stars" list will be announced on October 8.
After Shanghai's oldest resident, Li Suqing, died at 117 in June, Zhu Xiaohua, 112, has become the city's oldest resident, Chen said.
She loves chatting, and has a good memory, according to the Shanghai Gerontological Society.
The oldest man is 108 years old, following the death of 113-year-old Qin Maotang, said Chen.
