At first, Chen Zhiya was hesitant about running an old people's home because she had misgivings about the project.
"I'm an optimistic, extroverted and sensitive person. I didn't want to work in an unhappy place," she says.
However, since 2016, after the invitation, she had visited old people's homes in Japan, the United States and Australia over three years.
The visits completely changed her idea about homes for the elderly and she saw they can be clean and warm and the residents have a sense of belonging.
In old people's homes in Japan, she saw light in the eyes and smiles on the faces of the residents, who were willing to communicate with her.
"When I had meetings with my teams, I always said there's only one goal that we are aiming at in our work, that is, how to make the elderly's eyes sparkle," she says.
Now Chen Zhiya's home has about 240 people, whose average age is 87 and 180 suffer from severe dementia.
"So currently, what we do is to let dementia patients live a quality life through good care," she says.
