SOMETHING NEW

China is getting older—the National Bureau of Statistic’s seventh national census,released this May, showed there are now more than 264 million over-60s in the country, representing 18.7 percent of the population.While society debates how to deal with an aging citizenry,the elderly are getting on with adapting to a modern China vastly different from the one they grew up in.Grandmas and grandpas are earning millions of online followers by livestreaming fashion tips and life advice, or escaping loveless marriages to explore the world after decades of work.But millions more find no peace in old age, with grandparents increasingly drawn to the cities to become primary caregivers for their grandchildren, and suffering isolation, exhaustion, and social dislocation in the process.Comfortably retired or working flat-out to help their children, China’s elderly are redefining the meaning and consequences of old age.

退休是否意味着退居幕后，安享平静生活？在今天，有的老人为了照顾孙辈成为“老漂”一族，也有人在旅程中不断发现自我，还有人玩转社交媒体，分享生活和体验，成为新晋“网红”。退休生活不止一种，他们正在积极地定义这一人生的全新阶段。