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Opening local life to foreigners
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SHANGHAI has become like a second home for Gian Franco Terenzi. The former leader of the Republic of San Marino, a microstate in northern Italy, as well as the current president of the San Marino-China Friendship Association has been to the city more times than even he can remember.
Last week, Terenzi was again in the city with a delegation of 51 San Marinese. The group visited Caoyang No. 2 High School, where they performed in a flag parade and took part in a cultural show with local students. They then joined a contingent of New Zealand novelists, Singaporean artists, Japanese friends and local expats on an outing that included visits to a local wet market, a community center and TCM doctors, as well as displays of square dancing, martial arts and traditional craftsmanship.
The tour was part of the “One Day as a Shanghainese” program, organized by the Caoyang community, which aims to help foreign visitors learn more about the city’s culture through interactions with local residents and students.
Since its launch in 1993, the program has become hugely popular among foreign tourists and is now considered part of Shanghai’s tourism brand. Every year, around 7,000 to 8,000 people visit the Caoyang area as part of the program.
The Caoyang community, built in 1951, was one of the first worker’s housing projects. Today around 96,000 people live in the 2.14-square-kilometer area, which has a long history of receiving international guests.
In the past 60 years, it has received more than 300,000 people from more than 150 countries.
It’s not uncommon to find officials and celebrities among these guests, although many are regular foreigners seeking a better understanding of China and the local culture.
Unlike traditional sightseeing tours, the program exposes overseas travelers to the daily lives and leisure activities of Shanghai residents who serve as cultural ambassadors. They have the chance to learn about Chinese cooking, traditional Chinese medicine, calligraphy, paper cutting and local alley games. Many visitors form lasting friendships with local families through the program.
Song Jingwu, deputy director of Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, noted that Shanghai, as an important city for diplomacy, has hosted many influential events attended by foreign heads-of-state and leaders. Increasingly though, civil diplomacy is also playing an important role in China’s foreign outreach efforts.
Over the past 60 years, the Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries has established relationships and ties with 345 non-governmental organizations in 100 countries. These have led to cooperations in fields such as economics, culture and art, education, medicine, science and technology.
So far, the association has received around 10,000 groups of foreign visitors from all over the world, including the recent group of visitors from San Marino.
Terenzi said he’s interested in Chinese calligraphy, painting and architecture. He said the launch of a Confucius Institute in his home country has helped boost Sino-San Marino relations.
Ding Xiuyuan and Zhou Heying, who hosted the San Marinese guests, cooked delicious local dishes, including red-braised pork, marinated duck and sliced lotus root with sweet sauce, all of which earned praise from the visitors.
“I’m glad and excited to know that the guests think the dishes we offered were even more delicious than those in a restaurant,” says Ding, a cultural ambassador who learned English after retiring. “The ‘One Day as a Shanghainese’ program offers a good opportunity for foreigners to learn about the real life of an ordinary local family.”
On his first visit to Shanghai, Pelliccioni Kevin, a designer from San Marino, said he was impressed by the tranquility and beauty of the Caoyang residential area. Although he has tried Chinese food in his native country, Kevin thoroughly enjoyed the superb cooking skills of his host family. With instructions by folk artist Ying Zihai, he also learned how to paint on goose eggs.
“I used to draw cartoon characters, but this is the first time for me to learn traditional Chinese folk painting,” Kevin said. “It’s so interesting.”
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