Photo gallery: What it's like to grow old in China

An ethnic Uighur man plays with his grandson in the old district of Kashgar city, in Xinjiang province on Aug 4, 2011. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A delegate reads a document before a celebration to mark the 30th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Dec 18, 2008. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

An ethnic Miao woman waits for customers as she sells traditional Chinese medicine on a street in Yiliang county, Yunnan province on Sept 9, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Wang Yongzhen (in purple), 62, dances during a morning exercise session at the Temple of Heaven park in Beijing on Oct 10, 2009. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A rubbish collector carries a bag on her back as she walks past a construction site near a recently finished residential complex in Hefei, Anhui province on Feb 21, 2011. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A man sits in front of a computer at the Cherish-Yearn care center in Shanghai on Sept 14, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Tourists take pictures near the carcass of a whale on a beach in Sanya, Hainan province on Mar 28, 2009. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A woman walks near a residential area under construction in Chongqing municipality on Mar 13, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A vendor prepares her lunch in front of watermelons as she waits for customers at her stall at a wholesale market in Hefei, Anhui province on Mar 9, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

An ethnic Kyrgyz sheep vendor holds a bundle of Chinese 100 yuan banknotes as he squats with his father while awaiting customers at a market in Aksu, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region on Apr 22, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Members of the audience wait outside a stadium with young contestants of the sixth Hefei Dancesport Contest, in Hefei, Anhui province on Apr 15, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Hu Xei Mei, 75, from the Qiang minority group, stands near her house in a street in earthquake-hit Yingxiu town in Sichuan province on Jun 2, 2008. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Residents wave coloured fans to mark the one-year anniversary of the Beijing Olympic Games, outside the National Olympic Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in Beijing on Aug 8, 2009. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Sun Fengqin (left), 60, participates in a pole-dancing class in Nanjing, Jiangsu province on Apr 27, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A bicycle repairman sleeps on a chair waiting for customers in Shanghai on Jul 13, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Grandmothers chat as they take care of their grandchildren on a street in Xiangfan, Hubei province on Jul 11, 2008. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A 78-year-old woman with bound feet takes part in a gate ball competition as part of celebrations for International Women's Day in Luliang county, Yunnan province on Mar 6, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

An ethnic Uighur man shows a painting of China's former leaders (from left to right) Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi meeting at an airport, at his home in Aksu, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region on Aug 14, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS