In early July, a group of 20 schoolteachers from Shanghai's sister cities in 15 countries took part in a tour. They went to a local primary school to communicate with teachers and interact with the students.

"If visitors are interested in art, they will have the opportunity to watch performances by local amateurs. If they are interested in traditional Chinese culture, they can make Chinese knots as souvenirs and try on Peking Opera costumes at the community activity center," Zhang said.

Zhou Kangle, a resident in Caoyang for decades, started receiving visitors to his home in 2002. He and his wife like to treat their foreign friends to delicious local homemade food.

He also likes showing them his collectibles such as a Yao Ming jersey from when he played on the Houston Rockets basketball team in the NBA, wooden wind chimes from Canada and dolls from Japan.

"Once my granddaughter and I received an elderly couple from the United States. Several years later, when my granddaughter went to the US for further studies, they drove three hours to pick her up at the airport and invited her to stay at their home for several days," he said.

zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn