Foreigners invited to experience local life
A new scheme aims to give foreigners an up close and personal look at ordinary life in Shanghai.
The Linfen Sub-district in downtown Jing’an District is inviting expats and foreign tourists to visit its neighborhoods, community recreation center, schools, kindergartens and seniors’ homes while strolling along a 2-kilometer sightseeing route on Yangquan Road called the “Happiness Trail.”
English-speaking volunteers, most of them students from local universities, will serve as guides, and residents will serve meals and chat with their foreign guests, said Gu Haibin, the sub-district official in charge of the project, adding that they can also stay overnight in people’s apartments.
“We’d like to offer an opportunity for foreigners to take a close look at the lives of ordinary Shanghai residents, something they have not been exposed to before,” said Yang Chao, Party secretary of the sub-district.
Cheng Shuchu, a retired teacher who lives in a three-bedroom apartment, is among the more than 40 residents offering home-stay experiences for foreign guests.
“I can show guests my photo albums, which contain many pictures of old Shanghai, while my wife cooks delicious Chinese dishes for them,” Cheng said.
“The project makes me feel fulfilled after retirement. I derive great satisfaction from sharing traditional Chinese culture with our foreign friends.”
As an added bonus for guests, Cheng’s neighbors will come by and perform a traditional Yueju opera.
Another resident offering home-stays, Zhu Yuzhen, a retired shirt factory director, will make decorative embroidered sachets containing aromatic medicinal herbs to present to foreign guests.
Eight residents, including Zhu have been chosen to demonstrate traditional skills, such as calligraphy, for foreign guests, Gu said.
The experience includes performances by elementary school students, a traditional tea ceremony, a Peking Opera and a flower arrangement demonstration at a local recreation center.
“We want to create a microcosm of Shanghai life, a journey from local residents’ childhood lifestyle to their twilight years,” Yang said.
Visitors will also be taken to visit seniors at the sub-district hospital and the city’s first hospice for the elderly.
“The seniors have said they would welcome visitors and look forward to chatting with them,” Gu said.
People wishing to take the tour can call Stella Shao, a sub-district official in charge of reservations on 0086-18116020919.
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