Happy Communities

Residential communities may be small, but they are the webs that connect countless households together. They are the home bases from which people work in peace and live in contentment, and where they strive to realize their dreams of prosperity. In Chengdu, Sichuan Province, this megacity with a population of more than 20 million people, every bustling, lively, and homely community is constantly giving its residents a sense of warmth and comfort. Happy and thriving, the ordinary people there are growing ever more positive as the atmosphere of moderate prosperity becomes increasingly apparent. 

Bringing out the beauty of people's twilight years 

The Hongmen Street Community is an average aging residential community, but it is known far and wide as the home of "Grandma's Kitchen." We paid a visit to the place on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in late June 2020. When we arrived, we saw a table surrounded by a dozen or so seniors merrily washing bamboo leaves and make traditional delicacy of dumplings with glutinous rice and other ingredients for the festival. Next to them were more seniors painting, playing chess, and making paper-cuttings, each with a cheerful look on their face. 

The founder of "Grandma's Kitchen" is named Liu Daoli. Now 72 years old, she is a kind woman and a virtuoso in the kitchen. In July 2016, with the support of the local community office and a volunteer organization, she turned the sunroom of her ground floor home into an activity space. She set out tables and chairs and began serving food for elderly empty nesters, insisting on only accepting enough money to cover her costs. This was the earliest incarnation of "Grandma's Kitchen." 

"I've lived here for decades and I love this place. I always wanted to do something to make sure that the elderly people in the neighborhood eat well," says Mrs. Liu. Not only did she deliver freshly cooked meals to the homes of people over the age of 80 living alone, she also arranged for "young seniors" in their 60s and 70s to celebrate birthdays with and give gifts to older residents. Over time, "Grandma's Kitchen" became a welcoming haunt for elders in the community, giving them a strong sense of security and wellbeing. This philanthropic project then began to impact more and more people. Under the support of the community office, "Grandma's Kitchen" was upgraded into a full-fledged restaurant, with additions including a rear kitchen area with its own entrance, private rooms, and an activity area. This made dining more comfortable, and also allowed a richer variety of activities to be held there. The restaurant also puts aside a portion of its earnings as a community fund, and continues to provide free meal deliveries to residents over the age of 80. 

When asked about the upgrades, Mrs. Liu exclaims, "It's so much more spacious now! The seniors can eat as well as chat, sing, and dance, and there are lots of volunteers that come to help take care of them. Now that we have such good facilities, we can serve more people!" 

People's Park in Qingyang District, Chengdu has always been a popular place for neighborhood residents and people nearby to take a relaxing stroll or sit and drink tea while enjoying the scenery. At the park, one has a constant sense of the deep contentment brought by moderate prosperity. PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE PUBLICITY DEPARTMENT OF THE CPC COMMITTEE OF CHENGDU 

In the effort to ensure that all elderly citizens have the care and support that they need and feel happy and secure, families are the foundations while communities are the pillars. The Hongmen Street Community is a vivid example of how to make the twilight years of elderly people as enjoyable as possible. 

Breathing life into moderate prosperity through culture 

"Things have changed so much in the 30 plus years that I've lived here. There are so many more cultural activities than before, like Tai Chi, painting, dancing, photography, art exhibitions...." According to Huang Xiufang, a resident of the Kuanxiangzi Community, there is now an overwhelming array of cultural activities available, allowing seniors to enjoy an interesting and meaningful retirement. 

Mrs. Huang is the captain of her community's waist drumming team. The team has more than 20 members, and practices together once a week. At the same time, she is an active participant in song and dance classes, rarely missing even one of the three weekly lessons. For Mrs. Huang and her fellows, singing and dancing have brought boundless joy to their lives, with all of them saying frankly and sincerely that whenever when they get together in their cultural activity groups, they don't want to leave. 

These changes are all thanks to the local community office, which has attached great importance to cultural activities and provided them with vigorous support. Wu Liping, secretary of the Kuanxiangzi Community CPC Committee, tells us, "As people's living standards have risen, so have demands for intellectual and cultural stimulation. Our community must do well at serving all types of residents, including locals, people who have moved from other places, and people who have come to work, and culture is the key to bringing people together." 

Yu Kan, a Chengdu native in his forties, describes the original aspiration of the Kuanxiangzi Community and his own personal objective as follows: "Our job is to embed the roots of culture and creativity deeply within urban life and within residential communities, and work with residents to build their communities through culture." As Chengdu's leading example of efforts to fuse culture into aging residential communities, the Kuanxiangzi Community has vigorously supported Yu Kan in developing the Mingtown Studio Zone, which is primarily oriented toward youth culture and pop culture. 

Imbued in a cultural atmosphere, the daily lives of community residents are now more interesting than before. With so many options to choose from, like collective square dancing, painting and calligraphy classes, corner coffee shops, and music and art festivals, people shuttle back and forth between their neighborhood art spaces like they are at a fair. For young residents, the changes have made up for the disappointment they previously felt from the dearth of cultural and artistic resources in their aging communities. Meanwhile, for elderly residents, cultural activities have offered a new way of living and made their days more pleasurable. 

Turning communities into circles of togetherness under the guidance of strengthened CPC leadership 

Entering into No. 112 Courtyard on Xingqiao Road in the Shuijingfang Community under an old traditional Chinese-style gateway, one is immediately greeted with the sight of the compound's CPC public service center. Wang Yi, secretary of the community CPC committee, tells us, "The purpose of the center is to break through the key final hurdles in delivering services to the people under the guidance of strengthened CPC leadership, making ordinary Party members and members of the public feel that the Party organization is right by their side." 

The Party public service center conducts different activities every day. From Monday to Friday in the afternoon, residents are able to receive face-to-face services from people including heads of the community Party committee, legal consultants, representatives from the Party, delegates to the people's congress, members of the people's political consultative conference, and community doctors. Chang Zhankui, a 93-year-old military veteran and long-time Party member, regularly visits to tell stories about revolutionary tradition to residents, particularly young people. A retired woman named Liu Li makes delicious preserved radish, which she shares with everyone under the encouragement of the community Party committee. The committee also operates a soup kitchen, with 12 Party member volunteers making soup every month on a rotating basis for residents of the compound and sanitation workers. 

Whatever residents need, the Party public service center does its best to provide, and such diligent, kind, and compassionate efforts have brought the community together. An elderly local resident named He Xiufen who has lived here for more than 20 years tells us, "As people have built a stronger relationship with the Party organization and gotten to know each other better by participating in its activities, many of them have exchanged phone numbers and added each other on WeChat, turning from strangers into acquaintances and eventually becoming close friends." 

After the Covid-19 outbreak began, the community Party committee fully exerted its leading role, establishing a strong safety net for prevention and control and carrying out door to door checks with the help of volunteers. Wang Yi says confidently, "With the support and participation of the public, and with everyone in the neighborhood knowing each other so well, I had no doubt that inspections and day-to-day management would be successful." 

Community Party organizations take the interests of the people to heart, promptly deal with the troubles, concerns, and worries of the public, and work to see that each of these issues are resolved. By doing so, they are able to unite communities with a strong sense of togetherness. 

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No. 15, 2020)