Elderly Chinese have traditionally lived with their sons and grandsons under the same roof. However, this is now changing. Many are moving into retirement homes.

Eighty-eight years old Liu Chunsheng is one such person who decided to move out of his big family where he had lived with his sons and daughters.

"It was the whole family's decision," he told Xinhua in his bedroom at the Tianjin Retirement Home.

"Nurses in Tianjin handle all household chores which my children had no time to do. I now feel a sense of tranquillity," said the old man.

In his new home, Liu practices morning exercises everyday, listens to news, tends to his flowers and reads. Sometimes he takes part in social activities organized by the retirement home.

He meets his sons, daughters and grandsons only at weekends. "It took me a while at first to get use to this new arrangement," he said.

Since the mid-1980s, the number of retirement homes has increased in Tianjin in recent years. The city now has over 100 such homes which can accommodate around 4,000 people, supported by private enterprises, or public hospitals. There are now over 1,000 retirement homes across China.

"We're very busy with work and don't have much spare time to look after my mother," said Wen Qiming, a government official. "We decided to put her in a retirement home. We visit her either after work or on holidays."

However, placing the elderly in retirement homes has its fair share of critics. Many consider such a move eroding the time-honored tradition of respecting the elder generation.

China has the largest population of old people in the world. 120 million are aged over 60 and 9 million are over 80. This figure is expected to increase to 130 million this year. By the middle of this century the figure is expected to be 400 million.

China's elderly poses all kinds of problems in the new millennium, but the large number in Tianjin has created employment for some 1,000 people who work with retirement homes. Those aged over sixty account for ten percent of the total population in Tianjin.

Vice premier Li Lanqing has called on government officials to pay particular attention to the elderly. Liu Yazhi, vice-minister of Labor and Social Security, said that improving the life of China's elderly is a top priority for the government this year. A multi-level pension system will be set up and more retirement homes and special colleges for the elderly will be built.

Sociologists say that these changes will allow China's elderly to gradually choose a new way of life.

Lou Mingcheng, a 75-year-old retiree, said that he had been reluctant to go to the Tianjin Retirement Home fearing that people would think that his children no longer wanted him. But he soon changed his mind after visiting the Home. "Here I can chat with the people of my age and make new friends."

As retirement homes become increasingly conspicuous, the Tianjin government is making every effort to ensure that the elderly will be well taken care of.