There are even more intimate "companions" that have brought warmth to the elderly residents in the nursing home in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

Ninety-year-old Grandma Lin has dementia. "Her emotions were not very stable. Sometimes she would unlock her wheelchair, posing a risk of falling, and she would also randomly pick up and throw things on tables in the common area," said her caregiver Xu Chunyan.

In 2022, when Lin was gifted a doll, her attention was immediately captivated. "She treated the doll as her own baby, never leaving its side. When the weather turned cold, she would even tuck the doll in with a blanket," Xu said. The doll gradually stabilized Lin's emotions, prompting her to initiate conversations with others and return to a normal daily routine.