The Jiading district government of Shanghai announced the opening of a university for the elderly on Oct 20, to mark the Chongyang Festival the next day.
The millennium-old Chongyang Festival, also known as the Double Ninth Festival, falls on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar and is dedicated to showing respect to the elderly. In 1989, the Chinese government marked the day as Seniors' Day.
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Jiading district government of Shanghai announces the opening of a university for the elderly on Oct 20. [Photo/jiading.gov.cn] |
Covering an area of 5,400 square meters, the university has 17 classrooms and can hold more than 1,200 elder students. It will offer them various free or low-price courses such as cooking, photography, painting, calligraphy and pottery. To evoke their enthusiasm for attending these classes, excellent students can get awards, school authorities said.
At the ceremony, two local funds donated a total of 1 million yuan ($157,000) to the university as scholarships as well as books and school supplies to the students.
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An annual event to encourage lifelong learning among local residents is also announced at the ceremony on Oct 20. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] |
Meanwhile, an annual event to encourage lifelong learning among local residents was announced at the ceremony. Over 540 educational courses will be available to the citizens. They are expected to attract more than 200,000 participants this year.