From being able to eat an affordable and nutritious lunch in the happy canteen every day to learning vocal music, dance and other courses in the elderly classroom every week, the lives of the elderly in Zaolin West Community, Anning West Road Street, Anning District, Lanzhou City, Gansu Province are very fulfilling.

　　At about 11 noon, the aroma of food wafted out of the happy canteen of Zaolin West Community. Yang Yongkui, a 78-year-old community resident, walked slowly into the bright and tidy restaurant. After swiping the dining card, he enjoyed a meat and vegetable lunch at a price of about 10 yuan, and the market price of this meal was about 20 yuan. "It's very close to home, convenient and affordable, and you can eat well." Yang Yongkui said.

　　In 2024, the Happy Canteen will be launched in the community. Huang Lijuan, secretary of the Party Committee of Zaolin West Community, said that this canteen, which is subsidized by the government and operated by the community, is quite popular with the elderly. The canteen menu is updated every three days, focusing on low salt and low oil, soft and easy to chew, and delivering meals to the elderly with limited mobility.

　　In recent years, more and more grassroots communities in China have continued to expand the supply of elderly care services, and with meticulous services, the warmth of policies has been transformed into warm watches between neighbors, hot meals and dishes on the tables of the elderly, and health monitoring at the doorstep.

　　On January 23, residents had a meal at the Happy Canteen in Zaolin West Community, Anning West Road Street, Anning District, Lanzhou City. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cheng Nan

　　The happy canteen is only part of the service system for the elderly in Zaolin West Community. Huang Lijuan told reporters that the community explores the model of "elderly meal assistance + silver age school" and relies on the site of the party and mass service center to create a multi-functional activity venue. For example, it accurately meets the needs of the elderly, and offers more than 10 practical courses such as photography practice, model performance, vocal guidance, and traditional Chinese medicine health care to continuously enrich the spiritual and cultural life of the elderly.

　　Huang Lijuan said that many elderly people are very interested in photography and short video courses. The community regularly organizes everyone to walk into the park and is guided by volunteers on the spot. Chorus, dance and other courses are also popular.

　　Zhao Fengping, a 60-year-old community resident, said she has signed up for a number of courses such as dance and cucurbit flute playing. The study of the course made her body lighter and her mentality younger.

　　The reporter learned that as of the end of last year, Lanzhou had built 113 community embedded elderly care and meal service facilities, and various elderly meal assistance institutions have provided more than 7 million meal assistance services. The local government plans to build 50 new happy canteens this year, focusing on covering old communities and areas with prominent elderly care needs, and at the same time promoting intelligent cooking equipment, AI meal assistance systems and other technologies, expanding the scope of food delivery services, and solving the dining problems of elderly groups with special difficulties such as the elderly and disabled.

　　Residents dance in the elderly class of Zaolin West Community, Anning West Road Street, Anning District, Lanzhou City (file photo). Xinhua News Agency

　　In the Shanhai New Village Community Respect for the Elderly Happiness Garden in Shanhai New Village, Yankou Town, Anding District, Dingxi City, Gansu Province, the elderly can not only enjoy lunch, but also enjoy free services such as laundry and haircuts.

　　Zhang Hongji, secretary of the Party Committee of Yankou Town, introduced that the local government has launched the "Five Ones" elderly care service model, that is, "a bowl of home-cooked food, a laundry room, a pair of love scissors, a health examination, and a cultural banquet", which effectively solves the problem of insufficient supply and low quality of elderly care services in rural communities.

　　Zhang Xianbo, a resident of Shanhai New Village Community, Yankou Town, said that here, eating is commonplace, clothes are washed at any time when they are dirty, and someone helps to take care of their hair when it grows, and life is comfortable.

　　According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, China's population continues to age - in 2025, China's population aged 60 and above will be 323.38 million, an increase of 13.07 million from the previous year.

　　All parts of China have built a 15-minute elderly care service circle around the needs of the elderly at home, gradually improved the door-to-door service network such as meal assistance, medical assistance, and bathing assistance, and incorporated age-appropriate transformation into urban renewal and the transformation of old communities, effectively solving the problems of the elderly such as "home dining worries" and "health management difficulties".

　　Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, purchased home care services for the elderly with special difficulties and the elderly over 80 years old; Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, while improving hardware facilities, provides the elderly with a diversified service model of "old restaurant + meal assistance service + home delivery"; Hexi District of Tianjin City has built a 15-minute elderly care service circle that meets the needs of the elderly, so that the elderly can enjoy convenient life care at their doorstep.

　　Zhu Qiantao, a professor at the School of Economics of Lanzhou University of Finance and Economics, believes that from family to community, China is improving the life experience of the elderly by continuously expanding the supply of elderly care services. (Reporter Zhang Wenjing Cheng Nan)