Shanghai's senior citizens are generally satisfied with their lives, according to a recent survey.

The main complaint of the elderly is that their children don't visit often enough, according to the Shanghai Customer Evaluation Center affiliated with the Shanghai Quality Association.

The center's latest general "happiness index" among Shanghai seniors was 77.17, considered by authorities to be relatively high level.

The survey was based on more than 3,390 responses from local people aged 55 or above.

Forty percent of the seniors were not willing to live with their children, but they hoped their offspring would visit them frequently.

About 40 percent of that group said their children seldom visited or called.

"After my husband passed away, I lived alone," said 84-year-old Shi Zhusan of Yangpu District. "I usually have no one to talk to, as my children are too busy to visit me."

Nearly 80 percent of the survey respondents said they would rather live in their own residences than in rest homes.

The main reasons were that they were unwilling to change their living habits or they faced tight finances.

Almost all the seniors who remain at home said they wanted to receive help from the neighborhood, including dining and laundry services.

The survey also showed that retired seniors who live in the downtown were more willing to go on with their careers than those in the suburbs.

The survey was timed for today's Chongyang Festival, a traditional Chinese festival honoring senior citizens.

(Shanghai Daily October 7, 2008)