In late April, the "heartwarming meals" at the elderly care service center in Qianhan Village, Xianfeng Township, Linxia County, Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, updated their menu, with seasonal vegetables, fresh meat and eggs, and other ingredients made into dishes that better suit elderly tastes and are nutritionally balanced. For 3 yuan, seniors over 60 in Qianhan Village can enjoy such a "heartwarming meal."

　　Jia Gaxiu, 70, is a regular here. "In the past, I always worried about meals. Now I can eat hot food here every day and also enjoy professional medical services. It's really wonderful," Jia Gaxiu said. Sitting around a table with old neighbors for lunch and chatting about everyday life lets them, who have toiled hard all their lives, experience happiness in their old age.

　　Summer scenery in Qianhan Village, Xianfeng Township, Linxia County, Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province. (File photo) Photo courtesy of Linxia County Converged Media Center

　　In addition to providing catering services for the elderly and solving their worries about three meals a day, the village's elderly care center also provides more seniors with a place for leisure and entertainment. Wang Wuyong, 71, used to like playing chess and cards in the village lanes to pass the time. Since the elderly care center was built, he has also become a regular here. "Here we can play chess and cards, and no longer need to go to the lanes. There are also professional acupuncture and massage treatment rooms, and the facilities are no worse than in the city," Wang Wuyong said.

　　Huang Haihui, chairman of the Xianfeng Township People's Congress and leader of the village-contacting group for Qianhan Village, introduced that the elderly care service center in Qianhan Village has built a brand-new elderly care platform for the villagers. In addition to catering and entertainment services, the center also provides various health care services, such as cupping and acupuncture, so that seniors can take good care of their health while enjoying good food.

　　The photo shows the neatly repaired village lanes of Qianhan Village. (File photo) Photo courtesy of Linxia County Converged Media Center

　　Huang Haihui said that Qianhan Village today has realized that the elderly are provided for and enjoy their old age, truly allowing seniors to enjoy a happy later life right at their doorstep. The success of this model has not only set a new benchmark for elderly care in Linxia County, but also provided useful reference for community elderly care work in other areas.

　　Speaking of the origins of the elderly care model, Huang Haihui recalled that previously Qianhan Village had several major phenomena: most young people went out to work or do business, no one cared for the elderly when they fell ill, and old houses in the village had long been in disrepair.

　　Huang Haihui believes that aging in place is the main model of rural elderly care and also the ideal model for most seniors. How can the shortcomings of rural home-based elderly care services be addressed so that rural seniors can enjoy happiness within easy reach?

　　With the support of the Party committees and governments at the prefecture and county levels, the village Party branch, through villagers' information meetings and household visits, and on the basis of fully respecting the villagers' wishes, determined to establish a comprehensive elderly care service center, equipped with an elderly dining hall, a traditional Chinese medicine pavilion, and leisure, cultural and entertainment facilities, to provide seniors with basic elderly care services such as meal assistance and supply, cultural entertainment, and daytime care.

　　The photo shows villagers receiving acupuncture medical services in the Qianhan Village elderly care center. (File photo) Photo courtesy of Linxia County Converged Media Center

　　In addition, the Party branch of Qianhan Village has actively explored a new development path of "integration of agriculture and tourism, mutual benefit between industry and village" to add new vitality to rural revitalization. At present, the village's household tap water connection rate, road hardening rate, network coverage rate, compulsory education enrollment rate, and medical and elderly care insurance participation rate have all reached 100%. Nearly 200 households are connected to natural gas, and buses reach the doorstep. The villagers' living, housing, and travel have basically reached urban levels.

　　After repeated comparisons and calculations with neighbors, villager Jin Yongmei found that using natural gas for heating and cooking costs about the same as the previous coal, but in exchange for a safer, more convenient, and more efficient lifestyle. "Before, I only saw relatives in the city use natural gas to boil water. It was clean and fast. I never expected we would use it too. There is no more pungent coal smoke smell, and no need to add coal in the middle of the night. Life is more comfortable," Jin Yongmei said.

　　Xianfeng Township, once named for establishing the county's ** agricultural cooperative, has in recent years, in the process of rural revitalization, once again created a typical demonstration of comprehensive rural revitalization represented by Qianhan Village. Today's Qianhan Village has thriving industries, prosperous people, and beautiful countryside, and has been listed as a demonstration village for east-west cooperation in rural revitalization.