Photography-loving senior citizens take a look at award-winning photos of a photography competition exhibited at the Shaanxi Library in October 2015. [PHOTO BY WU KUANHONG/FOR CHINA DAILY]

Not too late to learn

Wang Yu, 65, is among those who joined in on the photography craze. Every Wednesday, she takes a photo editing class in a nearby community college in Hefei.

When the pictures get imported into Photoshop, the students first have to press CTRL+J to copy the layer.

"Remember, J, like the Jack in poker," Wang recalls her teacher telling her class.

Wang always sits in the front, carefully following the teacher with her notebook full of the important points.

Elderly people may take time to adapt to new technology.

"But we work hard until we grasp it," Wang says.

As Chinese people's living standards improve and senior citizens' consumption increases, photography classes in universities for the elderly and community colleges have grown nationwide in recent years.

China's first university for the elderly in East China's Shandong province attracted over 10,000 senior citizens last spring. Photography was among the top three choices of the applicants.

A university for the elderly in Anhui has set up four photography classes, each with 45 students. Its students range from over 50 years old to more than 80 years old, with an average age of 65.

Retired public servants, enterprise employees and teachers are the most active in class, according to the university.