China has a long tradition of filial piety, which is highlighted by Double Ninth Festival, or the Day for the Elderly, observed today.

Filial piety was traditionally viewed as the highest virtue and children had an obligation to take care of their aged parents, so elderly residents would spend their remaining years with their children and grandchildren.

Today, however, young adults, most of whom are the only child of a family, often work far away from their parents' home, and so-called empty nest families, where the elderly live independently of their children, make up more than half of urban and rural families.