久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語(yǔ)Fran?ais
China
Home / China / Society

Facing the end, their way: more Chinese people embracing conversations about death

Xinhua | Updated: 2025-04-22 14:37
Share
Share - WeChat

BEIJING -- For Yu Bo, a 41-year-old filmmaker from Beijing, death once felt like a distant concept -- something dramatic, even cinematic.

He had spent years documenting life-or-death moments in ICUs, always from behind the camera. But everything shifted when he experienced three severe episodes of acute pancreatitis in a single year.

"It was all self-inflicted -- alcohol, social events," Yu said. "But it made me realize that death is the one destination we all share. I wanted to understand it, to choose how I face it."

Last month, Yu signed a living will through an online platform, joining a growing number of Chinese people who are formally documenting their end-of-life wishes. He chose to forgo cardiopulmonary resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, and tube feeding should his condition be deemed irreversible.

As China develops, life expectancy has steadily risen -- reaching around 79 years in 2024, among the highest in the developing world. Many older adults are now living longer, healthier lives, but the rise in chronic illness and end-of-life challenges is prompting deeper reflection on how to age -- and die -- with dignity.

In this shifting landscape, end-of-life planning is slowly entering the public conversation. While once seen as taboo, living wills and advance directives are gaining ground, offering individuals greater control and families a clearer sense of their loved ones' final wishes.

Yu is part of a demographic driving this change: educated, urban, tech-savvy adults aged 30 to 59. This age group accounts for two-thirds of the more than 60,000 people who have signed living wills with the Beijing Living Will Promotion Association -- formerly known as the Choice and Dignity platform -- since 2010.

"At our age, the most obvious sign is that you get fewer wedding invitations and more funeral notices," he said. "I've seen too many people suffer needlessly in their final days, like my grandfather, who was bedridden for eight years. That wasn't life. That was prolonged pain."

Nearly 70 percent of the Chinese who have signed living wills with the association hold a university degree, and most live in developed cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, where exposure and access to new ideas shape their attitudes.

Growth was initially rapid, peaking at about 15,000 annually six years ago, but this has since slowed. According to Wang Bo, secretary-general of the association, this isn't due to waning interest, but rather the emergence of more channels to write wills, such as hospitals, civic groups and notary offices.

"Public awareness has grown," Wang said. "When we first started, no one responded to the information we shared on WeChat. But now, even high school students have joined our volunteer team."

Still, progress clashes with tradition.

In China, cultural norms surrounding death remain strong -- discussing it is often avoided, as it's seen as inauspicious. Forgoing life-prolonging treatment, no matter how futile, can be seen as unfilial. Families often insist on aggressive interventions for emotional closure or fear of being judged.

Qin Yuan, a doctor at the palliative care center of Beijing Haidian Hospital, often sees this tension. "People believe that as long as their elderly relatives are alive, their family is whole," she explained. "They also worry about being judged for 'giving up' too early."

To navigate this, her team holds family meetings to align patient wishes with family expectations. "It's a daily negotiation," she said.

And policy is beginning to reflect shifting attitudes.

In 2023, Shenzhen became the first Chinese city to legally recognize living wills, allowing residents to reject invasive treatments at the end of their lives.

The move sparked unexpected interest, with notary offices reporting rising numbers of people seeking to formalize their wishes.

"Young people and childless couples are increasingly seeking notarization," said Liu Suimei, a Shenzhen notary. "They care deeply about preserving dignity in their final moments."

As China's population ages -- with more than 310 million people aged 60 and above -- the government has been expanding palliative care services as part of a broader strategy to meet the diverse needs of its elderly citizens.

Hospice units in China grew from 510 in 2020 to 4,259 in 2022, with pilot facilities reaching 185 cities and counties. Yet access remains uneven, especially in less-developed western regions. By 2025, the government aims to establish at least one palliative care ward in every pilot area, ensuring coverage across both urban and rural communities.

Other momentum is building. In 2024, a national political advisor proposed the expansion of education and policy support. Advocates want advance directives linked to health IDs, ensuring that people's wishes follow them to the hospital.

This shift mirrors a global trend. While the United States is moving from static living wills to ongoing advance care planning (ACP), China is adapting similar models.

Wang envisions ACP, which will be a key promotion focus for her association in the future, as a tool to translate personal preferences into actionable medical plans.

She said the association plans to use big data to inform policy and expand outreach via video-sharing and streaming platforms like Douyin and Bilibili.

Still, cultural resistance lingers.

"Some people just wave us off, as if talking about death will make it come sooner," said Xiang Qiaozhen, a palliative care nurse in Zhejiang and a volunteer advocate. "But waiting until the very end often means missing the chance to have the conversation at all."

She has not signed a living will herself, but her daughter knows her wishes. "One day, she told me, 'If it ever comes to that, I'll make sure you go into palliative care,'" Xiang said. "That kind of quiet understanding is what we hope to build."

Yu Bo, too, faced pushback. After sharing his decision to sign a living will on his WeChat account, friends flooded him with calls, assuming he was terminally ill. "They couldn't believe I'd made such a choice just to be prepared," he said.

"Our discomfort with death is almost in our cultural DNA," Yu reflected. "We fear it, avoid it, and rarely claim ownership of it. But choosing how we leave this world should be our own right."

Despite this, he remains hopeful. "I believe more people will choose the same path," he said. "I want to tell their stories through film. Maybe then, we'll learn to talk about death -- not to dwell on it, but to live more wisely because of it."

Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
 
主站蜘蛛池模板: 日本高清视频一区二区 | 波多野结衣视频免费在线观看 | 男女午夜免费视频 | 国产片一级aaa毛片视频 | 亚洲欧美中文日韩在线v日本 | 免费区一级欧美毛片 | 日本高清不卡在线观看 | 九九黄色影院 | 国产成人高清精品免费观看 | 欧美大片一区二区三区 | 91久久精品青青草原伊人 | 午夜视频一区二区三区 | 亚洲国产二区三区久久 | 久久国产精品二区99 | 精品国产a | 粉嫩高中生的第一次在线观看 | 国产高清视频免费观看 | 国产三级视频在线播放 | 国产在线观看免费 | 国产精品久久久免费视频 | 国产精品黄在线观看观看 | 亚洲欧洲日韩综合色天使不卡 | 国产欧美另类久久久精品免费 | 国产精品二区三区免费播放心 | dy888午夜国产午夜精品 | 欧美成人艳星在线播放 | 免费国产成人高清在线观看视频 | 色噜噜狠狠大色综合 | 伊人久热这里只有精品视频99 | 久久综合婷婷香五月 | 国产片一级aaa毛片视频 | 日日摸天天摸狠狠摸视频 | aaa免费视频 | 国产成版人视频网站免费下 | 亚洲影院手机版777点击进入影院 | 亚洲国产福利精品一区二区 | 久久99久久精品免费思思6 | 欧美成人激情 | 中文日韩字幕一区在线观看 | 牛牛a级毛片在线播放 | 一本色道久久综合狠狠躁 |