BEIJING • Madam Dong Shixian's room at the Xinglin Nursing Home is barely big enough for a bed and a TV set, but she manages to squeeze in house plants, pictures of her nephew and other bric-a-brac.

The 88-year-old has lived at the nursing home - where staff prepare meals, take her to hospital and provide companionship - for more than a decade and is prepared to live out her days here.