On an early spring day, 92-year-old Liu Xiaomao sits in the sunny courtyard of an old people's home in Shanghai's Putuo district, chatting with her 72-year-old roommate.

This is Liu's third year in the retirement home since she signed an agreement with the head, Fang Quanzhen (not his real name), that the house would look after her in her autumn years in exchange for her 30-square-meter apartment. Legal ownership of the apartment will pass to Fang upon Liu's death.

Liu has no spouse, no children nor any known relatives. She used to work in a textile factory and enjoyed a collective life with her fellow workers, but when she retired she found she had to face many things on her own.