Seniors set out on road to new horizons

A growing number of older people have started learning to drive since the age limit was scrapped. 

Zhang Lanying's apartment is always clean and tidy.

It's as typical a home of a Beijing native as one could imagine: an old-fashioned square table adorns the dining room; a wooden bed with railings on three sides stands in the guest room; and when you enter the master room, sunshine spills onto the balcony.

Located near Beijing's East Third Ring Road, Zhang's apartment is on the fifth floor of an old building. However, there is no elevator, so the 69-year-old uses the stairs every day to go grocery shopping or simply take a walk.

In May 2021, she started a new routine: learning to drive at a suburban driving school in the hope of gaining a license.

"I enjoy the feeling of driving, and I take it very seriously. It was almost my proudest moment when I received my driver's license," she said.

Like Zhang, a growing number of Chinese seniors have started learning to drive in recent years, hoping to change their routines and improve their quality of life by learning a new skill in older age.

China has also introduced policy adjustments and reforms specifically for this purpose.

Twelve new public security traffic control measures were rolled out on Nov 22, 2020. In addition, the upper age limit of 70 to apply for a driver's license for small cars — both manual and automatic — and mopeds was scrapped, so anyone in good health can apply as long as they have passed the required tests and conform to more stringent standards than younger people.

Data from the Ministry of Public Security show that in June 2021, China had 16.57 million drivers age 60 and older, a rise of 16.36 percent from the same month the previous year.

China's economic growth and higher living standards in recent decades mean that more seniors now have the opportunity to learn to drive and buy automobiles.

Zhang Lanying, 69, shows her driver's license in Beijing in January. [ WANG ZHUANGFEI/CHINA DAILY]

Driving dreams

Beijing native Liu Fugen fulfilled his youthful driving dream when he decided to learn last year.

To his delight, he passed one of the exams in January. "I always wanted to drive when I was young. But back then I was a soldier and the army only drove Liberation trucks, which were used to transport materials," the 69-year-old said.

When he left the army and began working at a State-owned factory in Beijing's Chaoyang district, he was 23 but he never had an opportunity to drive.

"If you wanted to drive in those days, you needed an introductory letter from your workplace or you would have to find someone influential to explain why you wanted to enroll on a course," he said. "It wasn't easy to learn to drive back then."

During the years of China's planned economy (1953-78), the allocation of resources was decided by the government, and the authorities formulated policies to guide and adjust the direction of economic activity.

Liu recalled that cars didn't become popular in the capital until 1996, while driving schools didn't emerge until about 2000.

In 1992, as the reform and opening-up policy developed, the nation's rapid industrial development put it on a fast track to greater use of private automobiles.

At the end of 1995, the number of registered private cars exceeded 10 million, but by the end of 2017, more than 300 million motor vehicles were registered, and about 150 out of every 1,000 people nationwide were drivers.

Last summer, when a neighbor told Liu that he could learn to drive at a school in the suburbs, his youthful dream was revived.

"I am in my 60s, but in good health," Liu said. "Now, there aren't extra things for me to worry about with my family or work. When I receive my full license and buy a car, I will be able to drive wherever I want, taking my wife along."

Liu signed up with the Eastern Pioneer Driving School in a southwestern suburb at the end of July. He passed the written driving exam in September and the road test on a driving range in November. In October, he drove on a public highway for the first time when he started training for the road tests.

"I felt pretty good during the training for the road tests. The instructor guided me to perform a 90-degree turn into the parking lot, the same maneuver in reverse, and parallel parking. I spent three days practicing in the parking lot and passed the exam without a hitch," he said.

He said he paid 5,300 yuan ($770) for the course — about a month's pension. He is scheduled to complete all the courses in about six months and get a full license.

"It's really good that I have an opportunity to learn at my age," he said.

Zhang practices reversing under the guidance of a driving instructor in January. [ WANG ZHUANGFEI/CHINA DAILY]

Honoring loved ones

Zhang, who got her driver's license in September, didn't get off to a smooth start.

After she signed up with a driving school in May 2021, she took the written exam three times but failed on each occasion. She cried on the way home every time.

To pass the written test, examinees have to score 90 points out of 100.

The pretest study booklet for the exam contains 1,583 questions, consisting of multiple-choice or true-false alternatives, and the test consists of 100 questions randomly selected out of the total.

"I failed my first written test, and cried all the way home on the subway," Zhang said. "When I got home, I began thinking about what I had done wrong and reviewed the content the instructor had told us in class."

During training days, Zhang took the school's shuttle bus at 6:50 am, usually with 70 to 80 mostly younger people and two or three seniors like herself.

Zhang said she likes being with young people and hearing them compliment her.

"When I first waited for the shuttle at the stop, a young woman said hello and invited me to sit with her on the bus. She said I am about the same age as her mother, and she admired me for learning to drive at my age, which made me proud," she said.

She passed an initial road driving test at the fourth attempt, and an advanced road test at the second attempt. In July, she passed the written exam about safe, civilized driving at the first attempt, and got her license in August.

Initially, Zhang's daughter, a nurse at the Peking University People's Hospital, disagreed with her decision, saying it would be too dangerous to drive at her age.

However, Zhang persisted, believing that being able to drive would make life more convenient.

She is competitive and straightforward by nature. She enjoyed singing and dancing when she was young, and has a lot of friends.

After retiring from a State-owned factory at age 45, she landed a job as an assistant financial manager at a real estate company.

Now, she helps out in her community's subdistrict office, and is willing to help whenever neighbors, including security guards, need her assistance.

Her husband, who died of cancer seven years ago, was a professional driver, which is one of the reasons Zhang was interested in learning to drive.

"On Tomb Sweeping Day 2021, when I got home from his grave, I thought 'I want to learn to drive'," she said. "I didn't know when I would get my full license, but I understood that I would have to work hard and be prepared. I was very happy when I got it. If my husband were here, he would be exhilarated and he would definitely congratulate me."

Aging society

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in January show that 280 million people — 19.8 percent of the population — were age 60 or older.

It predicted that by the end of 2035, 300 million people will be age 60 and older, more than 20 percent of the population. That will mean that one in every four Chinese will be a senior.

According to the United Nations standards, a country is defined as "aging" when more than 10 percent of its population is age 60 or older, and "aged" when the proportion is 20 percent or higher. As China's population ages rapidly, every aspect of society will be altered.

Zhang Fu, 36, an instructor for the road test, has been teaching people to drive for 11 years. He said the number of seniors rose after the age restriction was scrapped.

"Since 2020, for every 20 to 30 students, there is always one age 60 or older," he said, adding that teaching older people requires great patience and he often needs to repeat key points.

"Unlike young people, who can remember the content after one or two explanations, older students need more guidance during training. I always need to guide seniors, to equip them with knowledge and skills as they learn step by step."

"Older students are always more anxious when gaining new knowledge. As an instructor, I help them rationalize their feelings in an attempt to study the new skills clearly. As a matter of fact, older people take driving more seriously than younger folk."