Eat, pray, love and retire

Shanghai nursing home once shared by Buddhists is donated to the community

For nearly two decades, Pu Yimin lived with her elderly Buddhist friends, who prayed, cooked and cared for each other at a nursing home they bought, renovated and ran.

The 93-year-old, who was the last inhabitant of the home in Jiading district, Shanghai, recently donated the building to the government of Gelong village for community use.

"I certainly can't keep the empty building for myself, because many people paid for it," Pu said.

"I believe donating it to the government is the most appropriate way to solve the problem and will contribute to the development of the village."

The 200-square-meter, two-story house with six rooms is situated at No 132, Gelong village. It once housed a credit cooperative that provided finances to rural enterprises and individuals.

When the cooperative was relocated in the late 1990s, Pu and her friends saw an opportunity. Unlike today, back then there were few assisted living facilities or nursing homes for older people in the district.

Pu, who is from Jiangyin in Jiangsu province, and moved to Shanghai in her 20s to work as a doctor, came up with the idea of buying the building and living there with her friends.

The group was partly motivated by their adherence to Buddhist precepts that were not followed by their family members. "Because of my dietary requirements as a vegetarian my family had to cook separately every day at home, which was inconvenient," Pu said.

After negotiations with local authorities, a sale price of 50,000 yuan was agreed to, Pu said.

However, she and her friends did not have the money and had to raise funds to buy the property. About 200 village residents donated anywhere from 5 yuan to 2,000 yuan, although some never lived in the house.