With a smart phone in hand, life for most Chinese people has become easier. They can shop online, watch TV shows and call a taxi.
Zhang Lei, 27, bought his grandfather a new smart phone as a gift. But his grandfather still uses the phone just for calling. "He said other functions (功能) are strange to him," said Zhang.
Although China has already had more than 900 million Internet users, among them, those aged 60 and above make up just less than 7 percent. Most of the old people mainly use the smart phones just for making calls. Other services are still difficult to them.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic (疫情), people are often asked to show a green health code on their smart phones to get into public places. But many old people don't use smart phones. Even if they have one, many don't know how to use it.
"We have worked hard for the country for the whole life, but now we feel left behind," a 75-year-old man said sadly.
In order to solve this problem, the government and other organizations in China are trying to help. See Young, an organization, hopes to help China's old people learn to use smart phones. Student volunteers have been providing free computer and smart phone training for the old across the country.
