Shanghai Daily News

Wearing a glistening silky blue suit, a 56-year old woman sways happily to Hindu Music as she and her friends dance in celebration of the upcoming Spring Festival.
Their performance was given in the new Cultural Center of Zhoujiaqiao Community, Changning District. The center, opened on December 29th last year, was once a 2,200-square-meter office building for community officials.
The community removed the offices and redecorated the seven-floored building as an entertainment center for its residents.
The center includes a library, a dance hall and an exhibition corridor for home-made works.
"I really love the center. You see, our dance lovers used to book outdoor squares to practice. But now, just take a look at our stage and practice room," laughed the woman surnamed Tang, who is the organizer of the dancing club.
Districts are required by the municipality to budget at least 1 percent of their fiscal expenditures to spend on facilities that are built for residents to enjoy.
The facilities usually include parks, libraries, physical and cultural centers.
"We introduced the facilities to satisfy all of the residents, many of whom are unable to join in the commercial clubs or afford the fees to join a gym," said Hu Yisheng, director of the cultural bureau in Changning District.
Last year, the district's cultural spending topped 20 million yuan (US$2.41 million), up 50 percent from a year earlier. Spending is expected to grow just as quickly this year again.
"The spending on public cultural issues will increase when the economy is booming," said Hu.
Besides the Cultural Center in Zhoujiaqiao Community, the district plans to launch an outdoor odeum in Zhongshan Park and will drop the current two yuan entrance fee in the future.
The odeum, which will be named after Fryderyk Fanciszek Chopin, the great musician from Poland, will be under the operation of a Polish troupe. And all the performances are expected to be free.
"We hope to cooperate with more overseas organizations of such kinds. We are willing to provide them place to enrich our dwellers' lives," said Hu.
According to Hu, the utility rate of the public facilities has topped 90 percent.
But many residents are still unfamiliar with the facilities, he adds.
Take the Cultural Center in Zhoujiaqiao Community for example. Though the community is home to many expats, none of them have visited the center yet.
"We need to introduce the center to the overseas residents since they must not know we have got one. And we have many classes there which are attractive to them," said Cao Li, director of the center.
The center features Chinese calligraphy, handicraft and painting classes which cost 20 yuan for half a year. The money covers the cost of supplies, such as rice paper and palettes. Besides expats, more underprivileged and disabled people are expected to visit the center in the future.