Expats get wide range of services
Updated: 2012-02-22 07:46
By Wang Hongyi (China Daily)
|
|||||||||||
"Many expats come to ask how to send their children to school, how to seek medical service and how to apply for a Chinese driving license. So we tell them how to do it," said Chen Lingyan, a staff member at the center.
Chen said about 700 expats in the community had received help from the service during its trial run.
As one of the city's largest international communities, Lianyang has more than 5,300 expats from 78 countries, accounting for 10 percent of all residents.
"As more foreigners come to Shanghai to live and work in the city, they may find things strange and feel lost at first. So we hope we can provide some necessary assistance to them," Chen said. "We have received a lot of positive feedback."
The service center also organizes community activities during Chinese and Western festivals, inviting Chinese and foreign residents to take part as a way to better integrate expats.
"Things have become much easier now. Previously, we had to line up for a long time to get the temporary residence permit, but now we can get it straight away," said Carl Hinze in an interview with Shanghai Television at the weekend.
"This is a very fantastic idea to have such service. Many expats need help when they first arrive at the city because don't understand Chinese," said Jacqueline Dawn Faulkner from the UK, who has been in Shanghai for more than three years.
She said language is a big hurdle for expats in the city. "Life in Shanghai is quite good. But sometimes I still feel some inconvenience though I have been here for years and I can speak a little bit of Chinese," she said. "And it will be more beneficial if such service stations opened in more communities."
There are reported to be more than 200,000 foreign residents in Shanghai.
Today's Top News
President Xi confident in recovery from quake
H7N9 update: 104 cases, 21 deaths
Telecom workers restore links
Coal mine blast kills 18 in Jilin
Intl scholarship puts China on the map
More bird flu patients discharged
Gold loses sheen, but still a safe bet
US 'turns blind eye to human rights'
Hot Topics
Lunar probe , China growth forecasts, Emission rules get tougher, China seen through 'colored lens', International board,
Editor's Picks
All-out efforts to save lives |
Liaoning: China's oceangoing giant |
Poultry industry under pressure |
'Spring' in the air for NGOs? |
Boy set to drive Chinese golf |
Latest technology gets people talking |