The first September in Changzhou, we got to see how a group of women would take their small scythe-like tools in order to cut grass. This group of women were cutting the grass on the grounds of the Changzhou Software building which was home for Google and a few other enterprises. I guess the best thing I could say about this process is that it keeps a lot of people busy and earning money. I am sure the grass gets sold to feed local livestock as an additional source of income.
The older woman was busy planting a new crop in her small market garden on the land that surrounds the little lake near the C.I.T. Xinbei campus. Her garden was a decent size, larger than some of the many such gardens in the area. Many of these gardeners are apartment owners in the area who use the income from their gardens to make life just a bit easier. Some do this gardening out of habit after years of need had cultivated a strong work ethic. One needs to feel useful and contributing in all kinds of ways.
But not all find a useful way to spend their time in their senior years. Some turn to passive begging. Fortunately we didn’t see much of this in Changzhou. Most found some way to earn their few jiao 角 and yuan 元 without having to resort to begging (qǐ tǎo – 乞讨). Most people we saw had a high level of pride (自尊 – zì zūn) in themselves.