在海南的养老公寓参观我的父母生活
A2 Chinese listening practice · Mainland Mandarin · Curated for beginners
What does “养老” (yǎnglǎo) mean in Chinese?
养老 (yǎnglǎo) means to provide for the elderly or to spend one’s retirement years in comfort. It is built from 养 (yǎng, “to care for / to raise”) and 老 (lǎo, “old age”). The clip shows a 养老公寓 (yǎnglǎo gōngyù) — a purpose-built retirement apartment complex in Hainan — with swimming pools, a painting studio, a small zoo, and a park walk that takes 40 minutes. The parents pay just over 1,000 RMB a month.
养老 is not just a building type — it is a social concept that has become a major topic in China as the population ages. The compound family is broad: 养老院 (yǎnglǎoyuàn) is a nursing home, 养老金 (yǎnglǎojīn) is a pension, and 养老保险 (yǎnglǎo bǎoxiǎn) is retirement insurance. The speaker’s question to viewers — 你有没有想过如果你老了要怎么养老? (“Have you thought about how you will live out your old age?”) — is a genuine dinner-table conversation starter in contemporary Chinese.