"Let the elderly who had difficulty going downstairs before, after installing elevators, they can often go downstairs to bask in the sun and chat with old neighbors." Qin Haixiang, deputy minister of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office in October 2025. It is understood that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, more than 240,000 old urban residential areas across the country have been renovated, 129,000 elevators have been installed, and 167,000 old residential elevators have been updated. During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, 115,000 old urban residential areas will be newly renovated across the country, and 575,000 residential elevators will be updated and installed.
Before the elevator was installed, a stair-climbing machine that could push the elderly up and down the stairs became a bridge to "catch" the elderly.
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On October 7, Li Guiqin, an elderly man who lives in Yichun, Heilongjiang Province, celebrated his 81st birthday. His family ordered lunch at a restaurant downstairs. With the support of his children, the old man slowly walked downstairs from his home on the second floor. There were 25 steps, and he took two rests in the middle, which took him 7 minutes.
Since last year, Li Guiqin has been unable to walk independently due to lumbar spondylolisthesis that compresses the nerves in her legs. Her range of activities is limited to a 120-meter-long outdoor corridor outside the second floor. "When she is in good condition, she can push her wheelchair around twice here. When her legs hurt badly, she can only lie down at home and rarely go downstairs."
"Hanging old people" like Li Guiqin, who are trapped at home by the stairs, long for the opportunity to go downstairs to "bathe in the sun and chat" from time to time.
"I heard that I can go downstairs to bask in the sun. I'm so happy."
In Laoshanxili Community, Shijingshan District, Beijing, 89-year-old Li Haifu (pseudonym) makes an appointment for a stair-climber service at the Laoshanxili Community Elderly Care Service Station every month to go to the hospital for review. Li Haifu's son told reporters that the old man had lived in this old building without an elevator for more than 40 years. "In May of this year, he could still walk slowly with help. Now he can no longer go downstairs by himself and can only rely on equipment." His family persuaded him to move to a house with an elevator, but the old man refused, saying he was used to living there.
Zhang Lin, the backstage director of the Elderly Social Work Service Center, said that the elderly care service station where Li Haifu is located has introduced stair-climbing services in 2017. There are now three stair-climbing machines, covering more than 70 residential buildings in the surrounding area and about 10,000 residents. During peak reservation times, they are basically fully booked throughout the day.
In Guangwai South Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, 62-year-old Li Shiying has been taking care of his wife for more than two years. My wife suffered from suppuration of bone marrow in her cervical spine and had two major surgeries. “My legs felt like cotton and I couldn’t walk even one step.” Li Shiying said that his wife went to the hospital to take blood tests, and the stair climbing machine helped a lot.
The Baicaiwan Community Elderly Care Service Station near her home provides a stair-climbing machine service, which costs 40 yuan for a single trip on the third floor and below. She makes an appointment at least twice a month. At the end of September this year, my daughter wanted to celebrate her father's 66th birthday, so she contacted the post station temporarily and wanted to take the old man downstairs to a restaurant for dinner. "They came here quickly and comforted my wife when I was going downstairs, telling him not to worry." In Li Shiying's view, the stair-climbing service at the inn made his wife realize her wish to get out of the house.
Cui Lili, the director of Baicaiwan Community Elderly Care Service Station, told reporters that there are elderly people with mobility issues who have not been downstairs for three or four years. Some elderly people lamented: "The next time I go downstairs, it will be like going on a trip."
Li Shiying said that sometimes when her daughter takes a break, she will specially book the stair climbing machine service for her father and push him downstairs to bask in the sun and go shopping. "When he heard that he was going downstairs to bask in the sun, he was very happy."
The ledger behind the stair climbing machine
Stair climbing machines solve the practical problem of "can you go downstairs?" However, to make "going downstairs to bask in the sun" a daily routine, you must renovate old communities and install elevators. In recent years, the installation of elevators in Beijing has continued to accelerate: since the pilot program in 2017, Haidian District has completed the installation of more than a thousand elevators, benefiting tens of thousands of residents; all 79 elevators in Sujiatuo Town have been completed and put into operation, and 21 elevators in the Petroleum Courtyard Community on Xueyuan Road have been put into operation, and more than 650 residents have no longer difficulty climbing stairs. Jiading District, Shanghai, will complete the installation of 90 elevators in existing multi-story residential buildings in 2025. "One-click direct access" will preserve the neighborhood warmth of old neighborhoods for the elderly.
However, adding an elevator takes a long time. Not only does the entire building require a consensus among residents, but the building itself must also meet the renovation conditions. Before the elevator landed, stair climbing machines became a realistic choice, and there was a ledger behind it.
The charging standard for Baicaiwan Community Nursing Home is: 40 yuan for a single trip on the third floor and below, with an increase of 10 yuan for each higher floor, which is lower than the 150 yuan to 200 yuan quoted by market-based institutions. Cui Lili introduced that the inn will start operations in May 2023. Early surveys found that the area is concentrated in old communities. Among the more than 3,000 elderly people over 60 years old, there are many severely disabled elderly people, and there is an outstanding demand for stair climbing machines. The station receives an average of 2 to 3 orders per day, reaching 5 orders per day at peak times. Most of the orders are concentrated in medical treatment scenarios such as dialysis, chemotherapy, review, and rehabilitation physiotherapy.
Cui Lili said that the elderly will calculate the cost when traveling, and the post station has switched to independent rental operation this year, and the annual rent is 500,000 to 600,000 yuan. Labor costs, low pricing and rent pressure make it difficult for the station to achieve profitability. Stair-climbing equipment has gone through many rounds of updates and iterations: from the earliest manual back-carrying, to bulky models requiring two people to operate together, to simple electric crawler models, and now it has been upgraded to a "two-in-one" smart model for climbing stairs and flat ground. After the equipment upgrade, the station still insists on two-person operation, with one person mastering the equipment and one accompanying and reminding people to ensure the safety and service quality of the elderly.
He Bina from Anshan, Liaoning Province once purchased a basic stair climbing machine for her grandfather who suffered from advanced lung cancer and was unable to walk, costing 5,735 yuan. "At that time, I relied on it to go out for medical treatment. It was really a life saver." He Bina said that the machine is heavy and difficult to operate by a single person. It requires a strong person to operate it and another person to assist.
At the Shijingshan Bajiao South Road Community Elderly Care Service Station, intern stationmaster Liu Zhe has been operating the stair climbing machine for more than half a year. In February this year, due to manpower shortage, Liu Zhe took up the post after attending training. "It feels easy when practicing with an empty car, but carrying people is a completely different matter." Liu Zhe said that the stair climber relies on electric crawlers to engage the steps, but when going up and down the steps, the operator needs to lift the machine up and then put it down. The starting distance, turning force, and traveling speed all have to be particular. The most important thing is stability. "The old man is not in good health and cannot have too many bumps." At the beginning of the actual operation, he first asked his colleagues to simulate the old man and only took the order after he became proficient.
Make the way to the downstairs smoother
A stair climbing machine costs several thousand yuan, and it takes a long time to pay back the cost by relying on service fees. If the family purchases it by themselves, it is easy to use it infrequently and is not cost-effective.
Policies have been launched to provide regular support for the elderly to travel. On July 14, 2026, 14 departments including the Ministry of Civil Affairs jointly issued the "Three-Year Action Plan for Expanding Capacity and Improving Quality of the Rehabilitation Assistive Device Industry (2026-2028)", which clearly proposed to study and explore the inclusion of long-term care-related intelligent services and supportive assistive devices into the payment scope of long-term care insurance. This means that stair climbing machines are no longer just a scattered convenience service, but are expected to receive stable institutional support.
Many places are exploring models that can be implemented. The common idea is to shift the payment pressure from "the elderly pay one time" to long-term care insurance, public finances share according to rules, and reduce the proportion of personal out-of-pocket payments. Nanjing and Suzhou include the rental of assistive devices in long-term care insurance, with the fund paying 85% and the individual bearing 15%, with an annual limit of 5,000 yuan; in Binzhou, Shandong, a stair climbing machine priced at more than 5,000 yuan is rented for 550 yuan per month, and the long-term care insurance reimburses 70%, and the individual bears 165 yuan per month; Shanghai Songjiang Through public welfare projects, elderly people with limited mobility in public housing without elevators can enjoy 48, 96 or 144 free services per year according to category, covering 17 streets and towns in the district from October 2026; Jing'an and Xuhui use a "zero charge" public welfare service model, with professional teams providing door-to-door services.
Beijing is promoting related supporting construction. At present, the city has established a three-level community rental network for rehabilitation assistive devices at the city, district, and township levels. Rental stations are generally set up in various streets and towns based on nursing homes. Stair climbers, electric wheelchairs, etc. are included in the inclusive rental catalog. Shijingshan District is the only urban area in Beijing that simultaneously carries out dual pilot projects for long-term care insurance and rehabilitation assistive device leasing, exploring the formation of a triple benefit mechanism of "rent subsidies + long-term care insurance linkage + sublease for sale". As of March this year, 439,000 people have participated in long-term care insurance in the region in 2026, and a total of 6,663 people have enjoyed benefits. Assistive device rental services have become popular in the region.
Shenzhen Nanshan District is piloting the "property + elderly care" model. The property management configures and manages stair climbing machines. The elderly can borrow them for free and have dedicated personnel to assist in operating them. The diverse attempts from various places have provided a wealth of samples for solving the problems of stair climbing machine operation and payment.
Elevators are being installed and stair-climbing machines are constantly in place. For elderly people like Li Guiqin, the road leading downstairs is becoming smoother step by step.
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Han Yang
Source: China Youth Daily
November 10, 2026 Version 03
