Elevators make life easier for elderly

"I feel free now as I can go outside as long as I want," Li said.

Li is not alone. Statistics shows that in Shanghai, there are more than 220,000 multistory residential buildings without elevators.

"About 70 percent of residents in those buildings are middle-aged or elderly people, for whom climbing up and down a flight of stairs is a physical torture," said Zhang Jianxin from Jia Jia Le - the first social service agency in Shanghai to provide professional help for people who need elevators in their buildings

To free those residents - especially the elderly - from taking the stairs by installing elevators to old multistory residences has become a prominent task in Shanghai and many other cities - all with increasingly aging populations.

Due to the underdeveloped economic environment at the time, these six-or-seven-story buildings are not equipped with elevators and instead only have stairs, with two or three small apartments ranging from 25 to 60 square meters on each floor.

"Although they are not as decorative as high-rise commercial residential buildings built during the 21 century, old buildings are still the best choice for the elderly for their low property management fee - less than 10 yuan per month, and convenient locations - usually surrounded by markets, shops and public transportation," Zhang said.