The residents of Caoyang New Village have always been passionate and welcoming to foreign guests and eager to share their lives with them.

Zhang said that "living as a Caoyang resident for a day" has been listed as one of 14 special activities by China's national tourism administration, which later became part of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Those invited to the model community can experience different activities according to their backgrounds, Zhang said, adding that have the opportunity to spend half a day to a day with a local family, learn how to make local food, speak some phrases in the Shanghai dialect and write Chinese calligraphy.