Old age and death in China...

Imagine a country in which the population is rapidly ageing and yet people do not want to talk about how to care for the elderly because they think it could bring bad luck.

And where most of the people do not even write a will, believing that it could actually bring death one step closer.

That country is China. And on the issue of ageing and dying, much of the country has a collective response: "We don't want to talk about it."

One social commentator told me that these attitudes date back to the time of Confucius who lived 2,500 years ago.

The great Chinese philosopher was asked by one his followers about the issue. Confucius replied, "We haven't finished studying life, so why delve into the question of death?"

And so the debate largely ended. More...

Don't miss:

1. Dying to live, South Korea's Coffin Academy...
2. Fancy a funeral on a Swiss glacier???
3. There's a life after retirement? Elderly Swiss flocking to universities...
4. Whatever happened to old age?