A new social-media account for the "Beijing New Oriental Retirement Club" has gone live, signalling a targeted push by Yu Minhong’s education group into services for Beijing residents aged 50 to 75. The initiative offers free online lessons and in-person trial classes priced at 19.9 yuan, with a curriculum that includes photography, Baduanjin qigong, baking and other hobby courses. Organisers also plan to pair participants with younger companions from the post‑90s generation to promote intergenerational interaction during activities.
The move is the latest example of New Oriental’s continuing business pivot from K‑12 tutoring toward adult education and lifestyle services after a years‑long regulatory crackdown on after‑school training. For a company with strong brand recognition in China’s education market, the retirement club leverages existing instructional capacity while entering the expanding "silver economy" — a sector that includes health, leisure and lifelong learning for older adults.
Beijing is an obvious initial market: the capital hosts a relatively affluent and densely concentrated retired population with both the time and discretionary income to pay for enrichment classes. A modest introductory price point — near zero for online lessons and under 20 yuan for offline experiences — suggests a customer‑acquisition strategy intended to scale participation, gather behavioural data and upsell higher‑margin services later.
The programme checks several policy and social boxes. China’s demographic shift has made elder care and services a national priority, and local governments encourage community‑based activities that reduce loneliness and support healthy ageing. By framing its offering as interest courses and social events rather than formal vocational training, New Oriental lowers regulatory friction while tapping into a public appetite for structured post‑retirement life.
Nevertheless, questions remain about economics and execution. Low introductory prices will test unit economics unless monetisation follows through via subscriptions, premium classes or ancillary services. There is also competition from established senior centres, hospitals, community committees and start‑ups already specialising in old‑age leisure and care; success will depend on New Oriental’s ability to convert brand recognition into sustained local presence. Finally, the tactic of using young companions may be socially popular, but it requires careful management around safety and liability in offline settings.
For international observers, the episode is illustrative of how major Chinese consumer education brands are re‑positioning themselves in a post‑crackdown era. What began as classroom instruction for children has broadened into lifestyle, social and lifelong learning services that seek to monetise population segments beyond the traditional school‑age cohort. The experiment in Beijing will be a useful bellwether for whether large education firms can build durable, diversified businesses in China’s ageing domestic market.