City announces improved cultural services

The city has formed a public cultural service circle to help downtown residents access public cultural facilities within 10 minutes of their homes, and 15 minutes for people in the suburbs.

Per capita public cultural space in the city amounts 0.2 square meters, Shanghai Cultural and Tourism Administration announced over the weekend.

Shanghai has 23 public libraries at city or district level, and 216 subdistrict public libraries, and is home to 89 art galleries and 131 museums. There are 24 culture centers at city or district level and 216 community-based cultural activity centers across the city.

"Shanghai is opening new types of public cultural spaces, and urban study rooms, intelligent libraries and wangjiangyi, literally 'a posthouse facing the river' that provide cultural services in commercial areas, office buildings, public transportation hubs, parks and river banks," said Wang Wei, counsel of the administration.

Built in the style of a cottage, with a glass facade, wangjiangyi act as "cultural living rooms" for locals and "scenic spots" for tourists.

Development of public cultural services prioritizes cultural resources in the suburbs and providing services at the grassroots and doorway, said Wang.

A number of public cultural activities such as film screenings and summer camps satisfy the demands of priority groups such as the elderly, juveniles, the disabled, migrant workers and those with financial difficulties.

The city put up about 5,000 QR codes and staged 38,800 cultural performances and education activities last year.

The "Culture Shanghai Cloud," a one-stop digital platform, has registered more than 5 million users and about 4,000 cultural venues since 2016. Residents have reserved about 140,000 cultural activities via the platform.

Shanghai has about 1,200 cultural social organizations, nearly 30 percent up from 2015. There are about 23,000 registered cultural troupes and about 5,200 volunteer service teams with around 200,000 members.

The annual Shanghai Citizens' Culture Festival has held nearly 250,000 activities over the past seven years.

Changning District has 10 cultural and tourism routes, a fashion industry cluster in Hongqiao and an art cluster featuring dance and music on Hongqiao Road.

Historical buildings in Yangpu District have QR codes giving information in Chinese and English, with text, audio, videos and virtual reality tours. The district also has seven walking tours.