Shanghai Daily news

Senior citizens in Shanghai who are facing financial difficulties and have no bathing facilities at home can enjoy free baths and a clean New Year and Spring Festival.
The city government has given 30,000 poor elderly people tickets to public bathhouses, offering each of them five free baths from January to March.
The shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau is also calling on community officials, college students and staff members of the bathhouses to be volunteers, helping seniors who have trouble bathing.
"We must ensure that every elderly person, despite their sickness or disability, can take a good bath, safely," said Ding Huirong, an official with the bureau. "If they can't go to the bathhouse, we hope that volunteers can serve them at home."
Local authorities will provide subsidies to some cheap public bathhouses. There are more than 800 bathhouses in the city offering baths for less than 10 yuan (US$1.20) per person. Poor families, elderly people and migrant workers are their main customers.
"Prices of the fuel and sewage treatment this winter are higher, so it becomes harder for us to make ends meet," said a staff member with Pengpu Bathhouse in Zhabei District which charges 6 yuan for a bath. "Now with the subsidies, we can not only ensure services to old customers in the community but also escape the danger of bankruptcy."