WHILE most people are busy taking out heavy clothes for the coming winter, Liu Chenlin is merrily packing some of her favorite blouses into her suitcase.

“I don’t need heavy clothes as I will spend the cold days in a warm place where I can still wear my pretty blouses and eat fresh fruits,” says the 64-year-old Shanghai native.

As has been her tradition for the past six years, Liu will fly to Sanya of southern China’s Hainan Province, together with her husband, late this month. Three of her sisters and their families will join them afterward. The big family will spend the winter there until next March.

Just as migratory birds fly south every winter, many gray-haired Chinese have been going to southern cities in wintertime in recent years for a more pleasant environment and weather. They still spend the rest of the year in their hometowns.

Sanya, Xiamen of Fujian Province and Guilin of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are among the most popular destinations for the “migratory birds,” as they have pleasant climate, good air quality, beautiful scenery and a slow life pace. One of the few drawbacks is an underdeveloped health-care system, which makes some seniors hesitate.

This trend is really catching on, as the elderly have been flying to Sanya from different parts of the country for the winter since 2001. The number has been rising quickly in the past four years, according to Ye Jianqi, a 77-year-old member of a Sanya-based association dedicated to providing aid and service to elderly people from other parts of the country. It was established last year to meet the rising demand of the increasing number of migratory elderly.

At least 400,000 elderly Chinese are now spending winter in Hainan Province each year, mostly in Sanya, says Ye. Almost half come from Harbin of northeastern Heilongjiang Province, where it is freezing and snowbound in winter. Others come from around the country, including some from Shanghai.

Liu was one of the early “migratory birds” to choose Sanya as her winter resort. Ten years ago she enjoyed a vacation at the island’s beautiful beaches and decided to purchase an apartment in the sunny city for her family.

“I was fed up with the dull and cold winter in Shanghai and wanted some place different for my retired life,” says Liu.

She shared the plan with her sisters, and all of them agreed to join. In 2005, the four sisters bought four apartments — around 50 square meters each — next to each other at a price of about 300,000 yuan (US$50,000) each.

“We had a beautiful plan that
we would be neighbors for the rest of our lives and could do a lot of things together when we’re old,” says Liu. “Now we have realized it in Sanya!”

There are usually three choices for people who want to spend winter in Sanya, says Ye of the association — purchasing an apartment, renting a house from the locals, or booking a room in nursing homes that cover meals and some entertainment facilities.

“Renting a single-room apartment has always been the most popular way in Sanya, considering the relatively low cost,” says Ye. “After all, most of the elderly who came to Sanya for winter are just ordinary retirees.”

According to Ye, it only costs about 1,000-1,200 yuan a month to rent an appropriate 30-square-meter single-room apartment, while it costs at least 1,800 yuan a month per person to live in a nursing home.

Prices vary, of course, for apartments at different locations and of various quality, but prices are generally rising as more elderly people are coming each year.

According to Chen Limin, also a member of the elderly association in Sanya, a 40-square-meter apartment that cost 2,000 yuan a month last year is going for 2,300 yuan this year, with a minimum 5-month rental requirement. Rents for local apartments also are rising by about 15 percent averagely.

A representative of a nursing home in Sanya told local media that 80 percent of the rooms had been booked by October. They provide 30-square-meter rooms at 1,800 yuan a month, with a minimum 4-month requirement.

Apart from having fun with old pals and enjoying the nice weather, some old people spend winter in southern regions for health reasons.

It was no part of 56-year-old Wang Xianglu’s plan to live in Zhuhai of Guangdong Province when her husband purchased an 80-square-meter apartment there in 2007. While the purchase was taken as a pure investment, the family later found it worthy, especially after Wang was diagnosed with nerve dystrophy in 2010.

She found her ability to walk becoming gradually impaired, regardless of all the medication and treatments. The numbness in the lower limbs often aggravated in the cold winter.

The doctor’s advice to keep her limbs warm in winter reminded the family of their apartment in Zhuhai, which they had hardly visited. They spent their first Spring Festival in Zhuhai in 2012 and fell in love with the warm city.

“I found the numbness much relieved on the first night we got there. I can manage to walk slowly on my own, which was almost impossible for me in the winter before,” says Wang. “And the good air quality and slow life pace are also appealing.”

Since Wang’s husband still needs to work, the family only spend the weeklong Chinese New Year holiday in Zhuhai each year, but they plan to spend more time there when her husband retires.

Ye of the Sanya association says that many of his friends from Harbin also found their health conditions like high blood pressure improved a lot during their stay in Hainan.

“They say they don’t even need pills sometimes,” says Ye.

However, not everyone likes living in the southern region for so long. The four months that 62-year-old He Jianhua spent in Sanya with his wife last year was not as pleasant as he had expected.

“I don’t feel that good about skipping the winter,” says He. “Some people may like a year of spring, but not for me. Winter should be cold so that we can store our energy as TCM suggests, shouldn’t it?”

He also says he felt disturbed by a community full of people from northeast China.

“I’m not judging, but they just seem to do everything in a loud way, which is annoying,” says He. “You can hear them every day without even seeing them.”

Another problem is the health-care system which is not helpful to those who live outside their hometowns. Medical insurance is restricted to people’s hukou or registered permanent residence.

So far only residents from Heilongjiang Province can apply for reimbursement of medication and hospitalization in Sanya, those from other regions still have to return to their hometowns to get the reimbursement.

Ye advises that the elderly planning to fly south for the winter should get an overall physical exam before taking off.

“It is still unwise to fly to Sanya with serious disease, considering the limited medication standards here,” he says.

Online comments:

“I don’t think it is a good thing to promote. Such great amount of migratory elderly will be like invaders, occupying the resources and disturbing local residents’ life.”
— Hainan Handsome

“It doesn’t have to be Sanya. There are many other cities and counties in Hainan that can provide good accommodation. The city will be flooded if all the elderly flush there.”
— Niaofei Yuxiang

“I don’t like them. Most of the migratory elderly are not in good health. How can you expect them to make contribution to the city? They will just occupy the public resources.”
— 312313

“The migratory elderly must be rich. Most ordinary retired people cannot afford that.”
— Andong

“I will join them when I am old. It is so freezing in northern China. And they also made contribution to the economy there. I know many elderly who spend winter in Sanya are not very rich, but they are still willing to spend some money for a comfortable life.”
— Sammi

“I am worried that the elderly might be swindled to live in another city.”
— Heimodaoshi