For Zhang Shouying, putting food on the table for the over 90 elderly residents in her village is a matter of utmost importance. It is also an endeavor requiring careful planning, a high degree of patience and most importantly, a loving heart.

With the majority of the village's young people migrating to urban areas, the Party chief of Hongniya village in Wulian county, Shandong province decided to offer affordable care services to seniors who are 75 or older.

"Many senior residents are living solitary lives and can barely take care of themselves, and even cooking and doing laundry has become a major problem for them," said Zhang, who was a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

In Hongniya, close to half of its residents are age 60 or older, with the number of residents who are age 75 or above reaching 136.

The village official explained that she was motivated to start the program to offer food to senior residents seven years ago after she learned how Guo Gongzheng, 84, struggled day to day with his son, who is mentally disabled, after his wife passed away.

Zhang said she had tears rolling down her cheeks when Guo told her that the family would survive on a single pot of porridge for a whole day, even though they had money in their accounts and bags of flour and rice in the kitchen.

"Money cannot buy everything. They have money. But they do not know how to spend it," she said.

The case of Guo typifies the plight of many seniors in rural areas.

The solution found by Zhang and her fellow officials was to start a catering program cofunded by the village and the families of the elderly residents.

Under the program, four women in the village were hired to prepare lunch for residents who are 75 or over. The seniors were also provided with free weekly laundry and home cleaning services.

"We only charge them 1 yuan (15 cents) for each meal so that the burden on the seniors would not be too heavy," Zhang said.

To reduce the cost of the program, the village official said, the workers grow the vegetables and other ingredients required on a small plot of land in the village.

Even so, the cost of operations reached 200,000 yuan a year, she said, adding that the village managed to keep the program going with its own funds and support from the government.

Li Jianmei, a 53-year-old resident in the village and one of the four workers hired in the program, said it requires great patience to communicate with elderly residents.

"We must cook the meals based on the habits of the elderly. Most of them like eating fatty meat, and they prefer their meals being cooked in the local style," she said.

The elderly care problems faced in Hongniya are not uncommon across China.

The National Health Commission said in 2021 that the ratio of seniors in rural areas is significantly higher than in urban areas, with over 17.7 percent of rural residents 65 or older — 6.61 percentage points higher than that of urban areas.

To ensure the sustainability of the program, Zhang's village has developed scores of mushroom cultivation sites as a source of funding.

Zhang said she is concerned that the number of elderly residents who are unable to take care of themselves will keep rising in the village, which would heighten the burden on aged care.

She said the government, instead of offering allowances to the elderly, should provide more services tailored to seniors.

"Giving them money is the easiest way, but it doesn't necessarily enhance their sense of happiness. We must offer the senior residents more direct services and ensure their basic needs are met," she said.