U100 Pension Apartments is a home where grandma can get an ECG between rounds of onstage karaoke and dancing — bathed in laser lights, of course — and enjoy a dip in the underground pool before her ultrasound.

She can beat grandpas at snooker before getting her morning blood pressure test. And conquer a mahjong table before her cholesterol check.

Indeed, Zhangjiagang's private and public investments add color to the sunset years.

Welfare and many group activities for retired people are funded by local governments and communities. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The city's 55,000-square-meter branch of the international chain fuses amenities afforded by a hospital and hotel with those of a neighborhood, such as a barbershop, massage parlor and supermarket.

Medical facilities are next to such social spaces as places for performing local operas.

Residents can break a sweat in an exercise room with treadmills, weight machines and Wii. For creative types, there's also a room for painting and calligraphy.

And every month, the home borrows 1,000 books from the local library on a rotating basis.

Such facilities are frequented by the occupants of 335 apartments for healthy retirees and 123 apartments for those who require assisted living because of disease or disability.