Shanghai's Jade Buddha Temple, a Buddhist temple with a history of more than 130 years, has launched a hospice care project ahead of the Double Ninth Festival, which falls on Sunday this year.

The Double Ninth Festival, also known as Chongyang Festival celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month on the Chinese lunar calendar, is an occasion to care for and send blessings to the elderly throughout China.

All the 246 community health centers in Shanghai have launched such care services, serving a total of 11,600 people from Sept. 2019 to Aug. 2020 in the city, data from the municipal health commission showed.

"Shanghai, as a megacity, has an increasingly greying population. We believe the whole society should pay attention to hospice care under such circumstances," said Juexing, abbot of the temple.

"To better meet social demands, we have launched this project so we can promote hospice care and improve people's quality of life," he added.

The temple will cooperate with designated hospitals and medical colleges to carry out research and train volunteers on hospice care services.

"Only by strengthening education on elderly care among the youth can we do a better job in this aspect," Juexing said. 

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