Across the road from the Jianwai Street Senior Care Center in Beijing a group of elderly men are sitting around a folding table playing poker in sub-zero temperatures. Like many retirees in China they live in their own apartments, but if they became infirm they would be unable to afford a bed in a nursing home.
“What is the point of building an unoccupied nursing home while leaving the very people it should serve in the open air,” said Li Jianguo, 72, pointing to the one-storey building that houses the only care home in the neighbourhood.
For the retired poker players the centre is simply unaffordable at Rmb5,000 ($717) a month. “The price is out of reach for us,” explained Mr Li, adding that he receives only Rmb4,000 for his monthly pension.