Many worked through China's reform era and now hold financial security, control over their own schedules and familiarity with studying abroad after sending their children overseas, Sixth Tone reported.
China had passed 105,000 universities for older adults by the end of 2024, China Senior Daily reported, though seats remain scarce in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Chengdu.
Frost & Sullivan valued the commercial senior interest-education segment at CNY25.61 billion (US$3.8 billion) in 2023 and projected it would pass CNY40 billion by 2028.
Zhao, 54, enrolled at a language school in New Zealand after EF Education First assessed her at A1, the lowest level, and showed her an A1 textbook before she left China.
Every course available on arrival was above her level and the teachers spoke only English, she told Sixth Tone, and the lessons were completely incomprehensible.
