Residents gather at the Community English Corner (Photo by Li Shengjie and Wang Jiahui)

On any given afternoon at the Wenzhu Community Service Center in Jiangbei District, you will find young people from over a dozen countries—including Morocco, India, and Russia—gathered together. While they often meet to exchange cultures, these days they are just as likely to be discussing neighborhood affairs, such as installing smart charging stations for e-bikes or adding safety guardrails along the local river.

This active participation by international residents in local governance has become the new normal. But it wasn’t always this way.

Wenzhu Community has a permanent population of about 7,000, including nearly 1,400 expats from 98 different countries. Today, residents affectionately call it their “little global village.”

In the past, however, this diversity sometimes led to friction. “International students felt like they were just passing through, and local residents found it hard to communicate with foreigners,” recalled Li Shengjie, deputy director of the Wenzhu Community Residents’ Committee. “They were separated by just a physical wall, but psychologically, the divide was huge.”

The turning point came during the Dragon Boat Festival in 2023. An Indian student shared a heartfelt sentiment: “It’s not that we don’t want to integrate; we just haven’t found opportunities to do things together.”

This prompted the community to rethink its approach. Subsequent surveys revealed that 83% of international students wanted to deeply understand Chinese culture, while 72% of local residents desired “international exchange right at their doorsteps.”

In response, Wenzhu Community launched the “Mini UN” concept and introduced the “Heart-Bridge Initiative”—a model focused on matching resident needs with volunteer services. Specifically, the community built “three bridges” to turn a diverse demographic into one cohesive family.

Bridge of Shared Interests: Breaking Cultural Barriers

To foster mutual understanding, the community recruited “cultural liaisons” to host hands-on activities. International students learned to make traditional zongzi, practiced martial arts with local heritage masters, and explored Chinese tea culture with retired university professors. During these events, Chinese students volunteered as teaching assistants and cultural translators.

Bridge of Shared Stages: Building Community Identity

Through the community’s cultural exchange programs, residents connect through art. It is now common to see retired professors performing Tai Chi sword routines alongside Indian students performing traditional dances and African students playing the djembe.

Bridge of Civic Engagement: From Passive Residents to Active Builders

Most importantly, the community empowered expats to shift from merely receiving services to actively building the neighborhood.

Last November, an international student named Abu saw Mr. Jiang, a local delivery rider, sweating profusely and visibly frustrated because he couldn’t understand an expat customer trying to say “second floor” in English. Moved by the scene, Abu immediately spoke up: “I learn martial arts for free in this community; why can’t I teach these riders English?”

That single moment gave birth to the community’s “5-Minute English Class.” Today, 23 delivery riders take turns visiting local coffee shops every afternoon to practice daily English with international student volunteers. This initiative has more than doubled the efficiency of expat-related deliveries. Volunteers also share bilingual audio lessons in a group chat, allowing riders to study on the go.

Furthermore, international students can now register on the “Ningbo We” platform as certified international volunteers, receiving weekly training to enhance their community service skills.

This spirit of reciprocity also sparked the creation of a Community English Corner. The same expats who were once “apprentices” in local martial arts classes have transformed into English teachers for the neighborhood. Today, even local seniors in their 60s are confidently practicing their conversational English.

Since the beginning of this year, more than a dozen resident-led ideas have emerged from the “Mini UN” platform and have been incorporated into Wenzhu’s future planning.

Community workers understand that accessible, high-quality services are the glue that holds this diverse neighborhood together. They are currently building a “10-Minute International Service Circle,” which includes setting up bilingual service windows, distributing neighborhood contact cards, and introducing foreign currency exchange and multilingual medical care in nearby hubs.

Today, walking through Wenzhu Community means hearing conversations in a dozen languages and navigating via bilingual signs. Through a collaborative network linking the neighborhood, local campuses, and industrial parks, Wenzhu has painted a vibrant picture of modern, inclusive grassroots governance.