Yesterday was the Double Ninth Festival, when elders are traditionally honored in China, and Chinanews.com used the occasion to report on the Senior Training Centers (STCs) that endeavor to enrich the lives of older people.

The first one was established in Qufu, hometown of the educationalist and philosopher Confucius, in Shandong Province in 1983. It aimed to realize UNESCO's principle proposed in 1965 that "A person should study for his whole life, from birth to death" and echoed the government's policy of a "continuous learning society."

With economic development the tradition of whole families living together has been disappearing, and an increasing number of older people live alone. STCs intend to counter the negative effects of this trend by giving elders somewhere to live and study together.

Hebei Province's STC was founded in October 1987, and its students include senior citizens from all walks of life who can study what they like and make friends there. "Study, happy, active and achieve" is the center's theme.

Li Jianzhe, 89 years old and the oldest student at the center, told Chinanews.com she began to learn painting at the age of 75. "I have good teachers and classmates. When I was young, I could not have this opportunity. But now I have the chance. I feel so happy."

Wang Zhensheng, who used to work for a movie company, excels in the painting class, and he said his family supports him.

Zhang Xiaoqian, 69, one of the center's teachers, said the most important thing is to respect the elders there, remember their individual characters and always encourage them.

More than 130,000 people currently attend the Hebei STC and over 250,000 have graduated from it in 18 years. More than 500 of them have published books and many continue to work.

Yang Zhijie, the center's vice president, told Chinanews.com that Hebei has an increasingly aging population, with 7 million seniors.

Yang said the provincial government has drawn up a "10-year plan" for seniors' education, and it is expected that the center's ratio of admission can increase to 7 percent from 3 percent.

The Double Ninth Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar calendar month, and in Chinese the word for "nine" sounds the same as "a long time." Since 1989, it has been officially celebrated as Senior Citizens' Day.

(China.org.cn by Wang Ke, October 12, 2005)