Gao Changyong, a resident of Meilisi Daur district in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang province, has felt it easier to go out in recent days.

"After a long winter, spring comes with warm weather and a gentle breeze," said the 73-year-old retired teacher. "More importantly, it has become much easier for me to take nucleic acid tests or enter a public venue without a smartphone since I received a card with my personalized QR code on April 2."

To help relieve the difficulty of scanning codes with smartphones for some locals, especially the elderly, the district government has worked with local public security authorities to promote the user-friendly initiative of "reverse scanning".

Residents can present the card with a personalized QR code before entering a facility where the staff can scan the code after installing a mobile app in their smartphones to get the cardholders' epidemic control status, such as a green code.

"With a green code, visitors can enter the facility and their visits will be recorded as well," said Zhuang Tiyong, Party secretary of the district's commission for political and legal affairs, who is in charge of the project. "As of Friday, over 15,000 residents in the district have received their cards after applying."

"In the past two years, I often felt embarrassed visiting a public venue because I didn't know how to use a smartphone," said Gao. "I had to wait for the staff to write down my information, which takes a much longer time."

"Sometimes we seniors had to queue up outside even in extremely cold weather," he said. "I had to ask my children to send me daily supplies to avoid going out."

"Last year, I got my first smartphone, but I still found it hard to master the functions like code scanning," he said. "When a community worker informed me of the new method, I was really happy and immediately applied."

"Only a few days later, the card came, which makes my life more convenient and efficient," he said. "Now all you need to do is show your card when requested to do so."

There are 49 villages and seven communities in Meilisi, a suburban district around 20 kilometers from downtown Qiqihar.

"With a large rural population, the problems of using smartphones for the elderly seem more obvious," said Zhuang. "The inspiration for the card came from mobile payment, when the seller can scan the payment code in our phones."

Starting in late January, the district government began researching and promoting the system of "reverse scanning" with technical support from the local branch of China Mobile.

With epidemic prevention data provided by local public security departments, the QR code cards are made for the elderly, students and others who find it difficult to use smartphones.

"To provide a better using experience, we launched the trial operation in one community in early March," he said. "During the one-month trial operation, we upgraded and solved several imperfections and problems raised by users."

China has 264 million people aged 60 and above, accounting for 18.7 percent of its population, according to the national census conducted last year.

"We also printed the telephone numbers of the elderly's direct relatives, which can be useful in emergencies," said Zhuang. "We plan to popularize the cards among all residents aged over 60 and all students from kindergarten to senior high school."