One-quarter of the 1.9 million citizens over the age of 60 in China's capital have no spouse. A Beijing-based research center on aging reports that 470,000 senior citizens in the city are single, with 440,000 of them widows or widowers and 30,000 unmarried or divorced.

The fifth national census in 2000 also found that 23.4 percent of the city's elderly are widowed, while those unmarried or divorced made up one percent of the gray population.

The majority of the senior singles are women: 318,000 widows, and just 122,000 widowers.

Researchers say that marital status directly affects physical and mental health. A spouse becomes more important than ever when one retires and loses many social contacts.

The sudden death of a spouse often causes the remaining partner to die sooner than might otherwise be expected. Researchers have found the mortality rate among the newly bereft elderly is seven times the normal rate for senior citizens.

Experts on aging say that remarriage often improves seniors' health by helping them regain faith in life and feel less lonely.

Many elderly people, particularly those who are healthy and financially independent, admit they need a spouse to keep them company. A recent sampling showed that 54 percent of the senior citizens surveyed feel that it is quite acceptable for a widowed person to remarry.

But researchers say many elderly will not do so, fearing prejudice and rejection.

Du Peng and Yin Bo, two Beijing specialists on aging, found that 50 percent of the elderly are confined by the traditional belief that one should marry only once and a second marriage would be a betrayal of the deceased spouse. Traditional values demanded faithfulness to one's spouse even after his or her death.

Moreover, many Chinese think it is embarrassing to remarry when one is getting on in years. "It's a question of face," said Lu Jie, manager of Milan Spring Wedding Photo, a studio in Beijing's bustling Xidan shopping district. Lu said no elderly couple planning remarriage had ever entered the studio.

Concern about criticism from the children, whether from fear of losing face or inheritance, was another obstacle that kept 33 percent of single senior citizens from getting married again, according to Du and Yin.

Still, experts believe that more senior citizens will choose to remarry as they grow more attentive to the quality of their life and depend less on their children for companionship and support.

"Besides, the younger generation will be more considerate as they get on in years themselves," said Du Peng.

China is rapidly becoming an aging society. It is now home to more than 130 million elderly people, about 10 percent of the total population, and the figure is expected to keep growing at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the next half century.

In an effort to improve their overall quality of life, the government has actively promoted community service for the elderly, including matchmaking services for the widowed and divorced.

(China Daily May 8, 2004)