Residents explain what's great about their community
Editor's note:
Jing'an comprises 13 subdistricts – Jing'ansi, Caojiadu, Jiangning Road, Shimen Road No. 2, Nanjing Road W., Tianmu Road W., Beizhan, Baoshan Road, Zhijiang Road W., Gonghexin Road, Daning Road, Pengpu Xincun and Linfen Road, and one town – Pengpu. Each is working to make Jing'an a better place. We have invited a local resident or worker to introduce the best of each subdistrict and town in this series.
Huang Yuanyuan: Office director of Shimen Rd. 2 Subdistrict
"Small lots of public spaces, which used to be left abandoned or overlooked, have been turned into mini ecological gardens equipped with rain collection systems, solar lighting devices and bird sanctuaries."
Low-carbon neighborhood
Shimen Rd No. 2 Subdistrict, hailed as Shanghai's first low-carbon community, has been working to get green design everywhere.
Small lots of public spaces, which used to be left abandoned or overlooked, have been turned into mini ecological gardens equipped with rain collection systems, solar lighting devices and bird sanctuaries.
Green plants, seasonal plants and colorful wall paintings also help to liven up the gardens.
Local residents are appointed to take care of the gardens, as an effort to raise their green awareness, in addition to various community activities such as green fairs, tree adoptions and garden workshops.
Notably, the subdistrict has formed partnership with local retailers and venues to launch eco-friendly campaigns. This includes cooperation with cafes to have empty milk cartons recycled and with Shanghai Natural History Museum to give classes about the environment and nature.
All these efforts are integrated to a digital platform, which provides detailed and real-time information for the subdistrict's officials to promote the development of low-carbon in the community.
Rich culture
The subdistrict covers 1.07 square kilometers of land, sandwiched between the bustling Nanjing Rd W. commercial zone and the beautiful waterfront areas along the Suzhou Creek.
Hence, it demonstrates a subtle blend of haipai (Shanghai-style) and waterfront culture in historical sites and cultural venues.
One significant cultural landmark is Xiwang Garden Lane Museum, which is tucked away in the century-old Xiwang residential compound on Fengxian Road.
Xiwang is a typical Shanghai lane neighborhood where Chinese and Western influences co-mingle. It houses 12 Queen Anne-style buildings located on interconnecting lanes.
The museum tells the history of Shanghai and showcases local living over the century, highlighted by family treasures of local residents.
Earlier this year, with the support of the subdistrict, Wei Yang School opened along the Suzhou Creek as a new cultural venue to promote traditional Chinese culture. This includes traditional Chinese culture lectures and experiences such as folk dances and tea ceremonies on offer.
In celebration of its opening, a hanfu (traditional Chinese Han-style attire) fashion show was staged along the river. A waterfront hanfu festival is now in the planning stage.
Wuding Shuchang is another popular cultural venue of the subdistrict. Shuchang, literally storytelling hall, is a place where pingtan, a music and storytelling genre that originated in Suzhou and typically uses the Suzhou dialect, is staged.
Wuding Shuchang has been opening for nearly 40 years. Besides traditional tea and snacks, it has started to serve coffee from this year to cater to the diversified needs.
Last month, the subdistrict's digital art museum, hailed of the first of its kind in subdistricts in Shanghai, opened, allowing local residents to experience both Shanghai and Chinese culture in a multi-sensory way.
The opening exhibition, curated by Wei Yang School, uses digital technologies to create an immersive and interactive experience for visitors to know about hanfu and Chinese rituals.
Elder care
Of a population of 34,000 in the subdistrict, about 45 percent is 60 or older, and 15 percent is 80 or older.
Faced with the "deep aging" demographic category, the subdistrict has created a "15-minute elder-care service circle," which allows the elderly to access elder-care facilities within a 15-minute walk.
There are different elder-care facilities for the elderly to choose based on their needs.
For instance, senior home provides "respite services" for those who can't manage their own lives and need short-term nursing care; Daycare nursing center is designed to care the elderly with cognitive disorders.
And community health management station offers physical check-ups, rehabilitation and excises.
The community's comprehensive elder-care service center includes an outpatient department of rehabilitation medicine where medical interventions for chronic diseases, rehabilitation nursing and traditional Chinese medicine treatment are provided at doorstep.
The subdistrict has joined with charity organizations, social groups and local firms to launch a variety of elder-care campaigns, such as sending volunteers to offer nursing service to the elderly who are aged 80 and over and live alone at home.
