Convalescent needs create growing market

She also dislikes living her life supervised, either by nursing home staff members, or by her children who have offered to move in to care for her.

"Different generations have different lifestyles. It is hard to fully understand each other," Li says.

"I guess it is best we keep our distance and enjoy our lives without interfering."

The caregivers clean the house, take her to hospital, remind her to take medication, accompany her when she desires, and even make handicraft for her.

When she had a tumor removal operation, a caregiver accompanied her for eight days in the hospital, and took care of everything, Li says.

"These girls and boys are very different from live-in nannies. They are pro-active," Li says.

Nannies are usually middle-aged women with little education, and you can only rely on luck to get a good one, Li adds.

But such services cost money. Depending on the required level of care and duration, fees for the service range from about 4,000 yuan ($640) a month for basic companion-care services to about 10,000 yuan for extended care.

The government doesn't yet provide health insurance coverage for such services.

Zhou Yanmin, a professor at Tsinghua University's architecture school, also suggests people adopt deigns that make houses or apartments easier to use for the elderly, such as wide doors for a wheelchair to go through, or handles on bathroom walls to help keep balance.

After all, as communities and homes are where most people spend their last years, it is important to cater for them.