Social Undertakings
10/8/2004 17:20
Education
Higher Education
 The city is speeding up the
development of a modern system of higher education that features complete
disciplines and trains high-level specialized talents. In 2003,
Shanghai had 57
regular institutions of higher learning and advanced vocational and technical
colleges. They enrolled a total of 120,300 students and the total number of
their students reached 378,500. Also, 22,500 postgraduates were enrolled and
10,100 graduated from local colleges and universities. Of the postgraduates
graduated from schools, 1,994 obtained their doctor's degrees and 7,683 got
their master's degrees. In the same year, the city had completed the
construction of the Songjiang university district and the Pudong campus of the
Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, with a total floor space of
484,000 square meters.
Regular
Education
Shanghai has introduced a high-standard and high-quality nine-year compulsory
education system and completed standardization of primary and middle schools. By
the end of 2003, the city had 686 primary schools, enrolling 648,300 students.
It also had 844 regular middle schools with a total enrollment of 754,700
students. Of the total, 296,700 were studying in regular senior middle schools.
Meanwhile, there were 83 secondary vocational schools with a total of 136,900
students. In the same year, the attendance rate of school-age children for the
nine-year compulsory education exceeded 99.9% and the senior middle school level
and college enrollment rates climbed to 99.2% and xx%,
respectively.
Adult Education
The city has
reported rapid expansion in vocational and technical education and adult
education in diversified forms and at all levels. By the end of 2003, 463, 100
people took courses in adult education. The city's 27 universities and colleges
of adult education enrolled 72,200 students in 2003 and the total number of
their students reached 198,000, including 81,000 regular college
students.
Non-Public
Education
More non-government-run schools have been set up in the city. By the end of
2002, there were 15 non-public colleges and universi ties with total of 37,800
students. The number of non-public regular middle schools reached 187, enrolling
a total of 133,300 students. There were also 40 non-public primary schools,
enrolling a total of 59,300 students.
Special
Education
This is a
special social undertaking. By the end of 2003, the city had 31 schools
providing special education for students with sight, hearing, vocal, mental or
physical impairments. Their combined enrollment reached 5,500 students.
School Statistics (2003)
Category School Faculty & Staff (10,000
person) Enrollment
(10,000 person)
Total 1839 21.54 203.94
University & College 57 6.31
37.85
Polytechnic
School 83 1.19
13.69
Vocational School
55
0.55
7.04
Skilled Workers' School 83 0.39 4.51
Middle School 844 7.60
75.47
Primary School 686 5.34
64.83
Special Education School 31 0.16
0.55
Sports
Boasting advanced
sports facilities, the city every year hosts a series of important international
and national sports events. In 2003, the city successfully hosted 11
international and 23 domestic events, including the Heineken tennis tournament
and the Shanghai International Friendly Cities Games. In important international
competitions, Shanghai athletes
walked away with nine first prizes. In national competitions,
Shanghai athletes won
27.5 gold medals, 31.5 silvers and 28.5 bronzes.
Shanghai women¡¯s
soccer team won the championship at the national super league, the national
women soccer tournament and the national women¡¯s soccer league. Two local men¡¯s
soccer teams, namely, Shenhua and International, won the first and second in the
national league.
Shanghai Stadium
Covering a built-up area of 150,000 square
meters, Shanghai Stadium is a comprehensive sports center with a unique
architectural style. The building occupies a horse-shoe shape lot with a
300-meter diameter. With 80,000 seats, the stadium has an eye-catching stretched membrane roof to help shelter the
spectators from rain or sunshine and it has facilities not only for sports
events, but also for cultural performances, fitness and recreation, boarding and
catering offices, shopping and exhibitions. In addition, the world top class
stadium has show halls on its south part, suitable for seminars, press
conferences and other activities.
Hongkou Soccer Stadium
Besides being the first specialized soccer
stadium in China and
Asia,
Hongkou Soccer Stadium is an actually multi-functional sport complex. Covering a
total construction area of 72,900 square meters and absorbing a total investment
300 million yuan, the stadium boasts 35,000 seats and 47 boxes. The soccer field
has lawn heating and large-capacity drainage equipment, the first of its kind in
China. The
stadium cannot only hold world-level soccer games, but also has facilities for
table tennis, fitness, roller-skating, cliff-climbing and other leisure and
recreational activities. So, it provides an ideal fitness and recreation place
for local residents.
Shanghai Yinqixing Indoor Ski
Center
Covering an area of 50,000 square meters and a
construction area of 52,000 square meters, this is the first large indoor ski
field in the country. It boasts a slope of 380 meters long and 80 meters wide,
covered by 50-centimeter-deep artificial snow. The center also provides more
than 3,000 sets of world brand name equipment. It hires more than 30 Chinese and
Japanese coaches to offer guidance and help. There are also catering, lounge and
children¡¯s areas for snow playing. The center was completed and started
operation on October 18, 2002.
China Disabled People's Sports
and Art
Training Center
This
is the first national-level facilities of its kind in
China.
Located at Qibao
Town in Minhang
District, the center covers an area of 44,000 square meters. It has swimming
pools, ball gam e halls and other function rooms for performance
rehearsals. It also has a non-commercial seven-story apartment building. Of its
total floor space of 21,400 square meters, 80,380 square meters are used for
sports activities.
National
Fitness
Drive
The city has witnessed
constant improvement in the public fitness facilities and thriving of mass
sports activities and spreading of the national fitness drive. In 2003, the city
had 3,853 public fitness sites in local communities, including 163 fitness
parks, 3,634 fitness stations in local neighborhoods and one fitness center,
covering a total area of 2.432 million square meters. More than 46,700 pieces of
equipment had been added to those fitness sites and
parks.
Public Health
In the first half of 2003, the city was hit
by a sudden outbreak of SARS epidemic. The municipal government took emergency
measures and set up an anti-SARS office. By bringing into full play its urban
comprehensive management system, featuring ¡°two-tier government, three-tier
management and four-tier network,¡± the city effectively controlled the spread of
the virus. Shanghai had also
formulated and implemented the ¡°Shanghai Three-Year Action Plan on Improving
Public Health¡± and the ¡°Shanghai Three-Year Action Plan on Building a
Health
City.¡± By the end
of 2003, the city had 2,319 medical and public health organizations, including
452 hospitals and 22 disease prevention and control centers. The city had
102,200 medical workers, including 43,100 licensed practitioners. There were
altogether 81,100 hospital beds. In the year, 69 major hospitals in districts
and county had extended their outpatient service hours. In addition, 18
hospitals at the city level had completed the renovation of their emergency
rooms. In rural areas, 40 clinics had been
standardized.
Cultural Facilities
Since 1990, the city has speeded up
construction of cultural facilities, many of which having already been completed
and put into operation. Such new facilities include the
Shanghai
Museum, Shanghai
Library, Shanghai Grand Theater, Shanghai
Book City,
Shanghai
Urban Planning
Exhibition Center, the
Shanghai Science and Technology
Museum, and the
Oriental Green Boat juvenile education and recreational center. By the end of
2003, the city had 36 cultural palaces and mass art palaces, 35 public
libraries, 45 archive halls, and 23 museums
Shanghai Library
Shanghai
Library is a large, modern and multi-functional public library, covering a
combined floor space of 83,000 square meters. The library consists of a main
building and a support building. The main building has two towers and an annex.
The two towers are 11 stories or 55.6 meters and 24 stories or 106 meters high,
respectively. The library boasts a collection of 13.2 million volumes, 38
reading rooms, 24 research rooms, and eight audio-video rooms. The reading rooms
have a total of 3,036 seats and in addition, there are a 842-seat conference
hall, a 500-square-meter exhibition hall, and a 300-plus-seat seminar room
equipped with mobile multi-channel simultaneous interpretation facilities. They
all offer services for international academic exchanges.
Shanghai
Museum
 Located on the southern area of People's Square,
Shanghai
Museum covers a
total construction area of 38,000 square meters. With a height of 29.5 meters,
the museum has five stories above the ground and two underground stories. It was
opened to the public by the end of 1995 and its total investment reached 576
million yuan. The upper part of the building is round and the lower part square,
reflecting the ancient Chinese belief in the "hemispherical dome cosmology." The
square shape indicates all directions on earth and the round shape implies the
cycle of cultural evolution. In the first four stories above the ground, there
are 10 galleries, including the Ancient Chinese Bronze Gallery, the Ancient
Chinese Pottery and Ceramics Gallery, the Ancient Chinese Paintings Gallery and
the Ancient Chinese Calligraphy Gallery. The top story is used for repairing
cultural relics, mounting Chinese paintings and calligraphy and academic
research projects. Boasting a collection of more than 120,000 rare cultural
relics, Shanghai
Museum enjoys a
high reputation both at home and abroad.
Shanghai Grand Theater
Situated on the northern side of the People's Avenue
in the city center, Shanghai Grand Theater is a world class arena.
Covering a total floor
space of 62,800 square meters, it has a main theater of 2,000 seats and a stage
of nearly 760 square meters (a 420-square-meter back stage and two side stages,
each having a size of 280 square meters). All its facilities can meet the
demands for performance of first-class Chinese international ballet, opera and
symphony troupes. In its huge arc roof, there is a 500-seat multi-functional
hall, suitable for holding banquets, fashion shows and
exhibitions.
Shanghai Book City
Shanghai Book City is located in the middle
section of Fuzhou
Road, known as a
Cultural
Street. Covering a total
floor space of 36,000 square meters and equipped with modern equipment and
facilities, it is a multi-functional cultural building designed to help promote
knowledge and information industries. The book city has 26 stories above the
ground and a two-story basement. The building has an information center, a
science research center, a conference center, a cultural and recreation center,
as well as organizations associated with book publication and distribution. As
the first super bookstore in the town, the book city also features a grand and
graceful architectural style. At present, it sells more than 120,000 titles of
books, audio-video and electronic publications.
Shanghai Urban Planning
Exhibition Center
Covering a total floor space of 19,000
square meters, the center was completed and open to public in 1999. the center
offers exhibitions, data searching, study and exchange, education and leisure
and sightseeing services. With the theme of "City, Human, Environment and
Development," the center has adopted advanced high-tech schemes and facilities
to display the overall urban planning in Shanghai and its
achievements in this regard. It has a 1:200 giant model of the city ce nter, covering 800 square meters. The roof of the
center covers 3,000 square meters and is a grid in the shape of four petals of
the White Magnolia flower, the city flower. In its basement, there is a
45-meter-long mock scene of an old Shanghai street,
featuring old city architecture and scenes.
Shanghai Science and
Technology
Museum
Promoting the theme of "Nature, Man and
Science and Technology," the museum serves as a center for exhibition,
education, scientific study and exchange, exhibits collection and production,
and leisure and tourism. In 2001, it also served as the main venue for the APEC
leaders' meeting. Covering a total construction area of 68,000 square meters and
total floor space of 96,500 square meters, the 1,755-billion-yuan museum has
seven exhibition areas for the Earth's Crust, Life, Light of Wisdom, Audio-Video
Paradise, Cradle of Designers, Children's Garden, and Natural Science. It also
has a large 3-D screen cinema, a 360 degree circular screen cinema and a 4-D
screen cinema. In addition, there are souvenir shops, multifunction halls, bank
services and dining halls. It was completed and open to the public by the end of
2001, with a capacity of receiving 3 million visitors.
Oriental Green Boat
Located by the
Dianshan
Lake in Qingpu
District, it is one of the top sites in the country, which is designed for
juvenile education and entertainment. Covering more than 3,700 hectares, the
center is divided into eight areas, including the Brave and Wisdom District, the
Knowledge
Boulevard, the National
Defense Education, the Wildness Surviving, the Creation Activities, the Aquatic
Sports, the Daily Life Practice, and the Sport Training zone. It plays an
exemplary role in improving the overall quality of
youngsters.
Radio, Film and Television The city's radio and
television stations have reported longer airing time and richer programs. The
Shanghai Media Group had set up 10 radio frequencies to air specialized
programs, with a total of 172.7 airing hours per day. The Shanghai People's
Radio Station had four programs, airing an average of 75.9 hours a day. The
Shanghai East Radio Station broadcast six programs (including one for
Taiwan
listeners), airing an average of 96.8 hours a day. The group also had 11
specialized TV channels, broadcasting an average of 1,475.1 hours of programs
each week. Shanghai Oriental TV had four channels, broadcasting an average of
523.8 hours of programs a week. The Shanghai TV had seven channels, broadcasting
an average of 951.3 hours each week. The Shanghai Education TV broadcast an
average of 122.5 hours a week. By the end of 2003, the city¡¯s TV network also
relayed satellite TV programs from 27 provinces, municipalities and autonomous
regions across the country. Meanwhile, there were 30 cable TV stations
(networks) in other parts of the country and world, including those in
Macau, Japan and
Australia,
which rebroadcast the Shanghai satellite TV
programs. In 2003, the city had also opened a movie channel, the first of its
kind on local TV stations in the country. The city produced nine feature films
in the year.
Press and Publication
The local press and publication industry is thriving.
In 2003, the city had successfully hosted the 2003 Shanghai Book Fair, the Third
Shanghai Book Copyright Fair and other activities. Meanwhile, the Shanghai
Literature Publishing House and the Shanghai Century Publishing Group were
reorganized. In the year, the city published 101 types of newspapers, including
18 daily newspapers. The city published a total of 1.705 billion copies of
newspapers, 183 million copies of various kinds of magazines, and 274 million
copies of books. The Oriental Morning Post was launched in the year and the
Youth Daily and the International Financial Journal had undergone major
revamping. Eleven books published in the city, including ¡°Jehol Biota,¡± ¡°Modern
Neurosurgery,¡± and ¡°Yangtze Estuary Frontal Study,¡± won awards at the
11th National Excellent Science Publications
conference.
Culture and Art
The
culture and art are making marked progresses. In 2003, the city successfully
hosted a series of major international events, such as the 2003 International
Fashion Culture Festival, the Fifth China International Art Festival
(Shanghai), the Seventh
Shanghai International Film Festival and other cultural activities. In the year,
Shanghai won more than
20 national and international art and cultural awards. The drama ¡°Shangyang¡± and
Peking Opera ¡°The Prosperous Zhenguan Reign¡±
had been selected by the state as the annual excellent stage plays. The movie
¡°Father¡± won the best film prize at the 27th Cairo Film Festival.
The
Shanghai
Museum had
successfully staged the exhibition of Chunhua Ge Tie, the country¡¯s earliest
known calligraphy collection, attracting more than 143,000
visitors.
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