At the age of 80, Lu Quanbao, and his wife Bao, 75, are enjoying a leisurely retirement in their three-bedroom apartment in north Beijing.

Their daily schedule is simple: walk and slow exercise in the morning, play cards with old friends at the neighborhood retiree center in the afternoon and walk for another hour after supper.

It's an unprecedented lifestyle for a whole new generation of Chinese -- the empty-nesters.

"I was born into in a big family with my parents, brother, and relatives," says Lu. "My parents died from poor health brought about by the war when I was still in primary school.

"People in old age were not expected to live as long as they do today. We are better taken care of by the advanced medical treatment."

But unlike previous generations of elderly Chinese, they are no longer forced by their health and financial circumstances to live with their children. They have options.

"I don't want to live with my children because we have different lifestyles. They are busy with work, children and their social lives," Lu says. "Few of my friends are living with their children."

The tradition of the extended family with the aging parents is being challenged by the pension, health care and individualism.

Previous generations of elderly Chinese might have felt socially excluded without a big family buzzing around them. However, economic development has allowed this generation to remain independent, while greater social diversity means their choice of lifestyle is respected.

The couple's eldest daughter, Lu Ying, visits them every two weeks.

"I myself am getting on. I am 50 and not as energetic as I used to be. Looking after my parents everyday while I'm working and supporting my son would be very tiring," says Lu Ying, a nurse.

Her apartment is in the south of the city, far from her parents.

"I will enjoy myself after I retire, and maybe I'll travel," she says. "I might think of living in a nursing home when I got too old to look after myself."

The empty-nesters are a growing group in China, says Li Yinhe, a respected sociologist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

A survey conducted by the CASS this month of 4,013 households in five big cities across China showed they accounted for 16.3 percent.

"It is a universal phenomenon," says Li. "The development of the economy and improved living standards enable the elderly to live on their own."

With rapid urbanization, extended families (of at least three generations) fell sharply from the 1950s to the 1980s while nuclear families (a couple with one child) made up a greater proportion in cities, Li says.

According to the survey, nuclear families accounted for 40.8 percent of households, almost triple the number of extended families.

"The growth of social insurance and the pension system help older people to be more independent," says Li. "They don't have to rely on their children when they can buy care services.

"In an aging society, old people should have a positive attitude towards living apart from their children."

Zhang, 65, lives alone in central Beijing though her husband died 12 years ago. Her son drops by at weekends.

"I don't want to become a burden of my children and I am used to living alone," says Zhang, who declines to give her full name.

"I will move to a nursing home nearby when I have trouble taking care of myself."

Yan Shuai, president of Puleyuan Senior House in southwest Beijing, found attitudes to his business had changed dramatically in recent years.

"People used to come here when they had no family to depend on. Now more seniors with children come. We are running short of beds," Yan says.

The home is expanding, and the nursing home sector has begun to boom.

"The cost could be stopping people from going to senior homes," he says. "It's a dilemma. Old people and their families cannot afford care if the cost is too high, but the nursing houses can't make the ends meet if it is too low."

A more practical solution could be for elderly couples to live in their own homes with support from both the family and community.

Li suggests communities should provide more basic nursing services and more entertainment facilities for the seniors.

For example, she says, community authorities can install emergency alarms in the homes of the elderly so that they can get help in an emergency, such as a fall.

"The community can play a positive role of complementing family support and easing the burden of children," Li says.