Ｆｏｒｅｉｇｎ Ｓｔｕｄｅｎｔｓ ｉｎ Ｔｉａｎｊｉｎ Ｖｉｓｉｔ Ｅｌｄｅｒｌｙ Ｐｅｏｐｌｅ’ｓ Ｈｏｍｅ

On the afternoon of December 7， 2007， the Tianjin Municipal People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (TMPAFFC) organized more than 20 Japanese and ROK teachers and students of Nankai University to visit the Tianjin Elderly People’s Home.

The Tianjin Elderly People’s Home， built in 1953 and covering an area of over 40 mu， is a comprehensive welfare institution for the elderly people which provides such services as accommodation， medical care， nursing， nutrition counseling， rehabilitation， education， recreation， deathbed care and training. In it there are a branch of the Tianjin Elderly People’s University， the Tianjin Nurse Training School for Caring the Aged and a hospital for senile diseases with 500 beds. The Home mainly admits unsupported aged people， elderly people who pay for their own expenses and those who are critically ill needing deathbed care. People above 60 without infectious diseases or mental disorder can apply for admission.

There the foreign teachers and students learnt that the average age is 80 in the Home. There are two centenarians and 51 over 90. There aremultiple-bed， three-bed and double rooms， and one-room and double-room flats. The rooms are furnished and equipped with household appliances and the electronic paging system. The foreign students and teachers visited with interest the bedrooms， the flats， the canteen， the reading room， the recreation room， the clinic， etc. They brought the elderly fruits， had cordial chat with them and sang foreign folk songs for them. They learnt that the government provides or subsidizes the living and medical expenses and meticulous medical care for family members of revolutionary martyrs and unsupported aged people.

When seeing the Chinese government provide such good living conditions and take good care of the elderly people who were living happily， the foreign teachers and students were greatly touched. A Japanese student said: “This visit is quite meaningful. In future if I have a chance， I will come to the Home to work as a volunteer and do my bit for the happiness of the elderly people in their remaining years.” A ROK student said: “Through this visit I have seen many warm and loving scenes， which have moved me greatly. The TMPAFFC， by organizing this activity， gave us a chance to know more deeply about Tianjin.”

Before the visitors’ departure， the elderly people presented the foreign visitors with their calligraphic works， paintings and handicrafts made by themselves. The elderly and the visitors had pictures taken together and wished each other good health. The half-day visit made the students feel edified and happy and left a wonderful impression on them. They said that they would treasure the chance of studying in Tianjin and that they would study Chinese language and other subjects well so as to contribute their bit to the friendly exchanges and cooperation between their own countries and China.