A young woman uses her mobile phone to scan a QR code in order to make a payment with the WeChat app at a market in Beijing. Elderly people in China are having to learn about mobile payments, scanning QR codes to enter shops and banks, and more in the aftermath of Covid-19. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images A young woman uses her mobile phone to scan a QR code in order to make a payment with the WeChat app at a market in Beijing. Elderly people in China are having to learn about mobile payments, scanning QR codes to enter shops and banks, and more in the aftermath of Covid-19. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
A young woman uses her mobile phone to scan a QR code in order to make a payment with the WeChat app at a market in Beijing. Elderly people in China are having to learn about mobile payments, scanning QR codes to enter shops and banks, and more in the aftermath of Covid-19. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
China Society
Lifestyle /  Family & Relationships

Elderly left behind by spread of digital services in China after coronavirus

  • Old people in China have suffered as services and facilities have digitised after the coronavirus outbreak, with some unable to work out how to leave home
  • Others, like Wang Yingru, have got the hang of mobile payments, but need help to book a taxi or medical appointment. You have to be willing to learn, she says

Topic |   China Society
Phoebe ZhangYujie Xue
Phoebe Zhang in Shenzhen and Yujie Xue in Shenzhen

Updated: 10:06pm, 17 Dec, 2020

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A young woman uses her mobile phone to scan a QR code in order to make a payment with the WeChat app at a market in Beijing. Elderly people in China are having to learn about mobile payments, scanning QR codes to enter shops and banks, and more in the aftermath of Covid-19. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images A young woman uses her mobile phone to scan a QR code in order to make a payment with the WeChat app at a market in Beijing. Elderly people in China are having to learn about mobile payments, scanning QR codes to enter shops and banks, and more in the aftermath of Covid-19. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
A young woman uses her mobile phone to scan a QR code in order to make a payment with the WeChat app at a market in Beijing. Elderly people in China are having to learn about mobile payments, scanning QR codes to enter shops and banks, and more in the aftermath of Covid-19. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
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