THE Futian District Government organized a one-day tour of the district March 26, taking expats and Chinese families to a local school, hospitals and a mangrove ecological park.

    According to the Foreign Affairs Office of Futian District, the purpose of the tour was to help the expatriate community in Shenzhen learn about the services available to them.

    Seyhmus Gunes decided to join the one-day tour around Futian District, after being invited by a classmate.

    From Turkey, Gunes has been studying Chinese at Shenzhen University in neighboring Nanshan District for four months. The tour around Futian was an opportunity for the 26-year-old to see more of the city.

    “I think the tour is very good for newcomers like me and I would like to explore more if there are more opportunities,” Gunes said on the way from the Futian People’s Hospital to the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital.

    Last year, a similar tour saw dozens of Korean nationals tour a Futian-based startup center and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Also, there had been tours to Xiasha, Shuiwei and Meilin Greenway in the district.

    This year’s tour included people from Turkey, Tunisia, Canada, Australia, Israel, the Congo and Sri Lanka. Two Chinese families also attended the tour.

    The first stop on the tour was the Green Oasis School, which is an international school founded in 2001.

    According to Helen Swan, the school’s principal, the school offers quality education to children from various cultural backgrounds at primary and secondary levels.

    A Shenzhen resident surnamed Yan took her 6-year-old daughter on the tour specifically to see the international school. Working at a foreign-owned enterprise in Shenzhen, Yan values the Western education model.

    “The artwork created by the students was very impressive. It shows the school’s philosophy of encouraging student creativity,” said Yan.

    After the school tour, the team was shown two public hospitals in the district, the Futian People’s Hospital and the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital.

    Efri Halperin, who was on a business trip from Israel, tried a counterpulsation machine at the Futian People’s Hospital. The machine massages the body to transfer blood from the lower limbs to the heart.

    “It was fun to experience the machine and how the medical employees operated it,” said Halperin. He said he has had a quick heart beat since birth.

    The president of the hospital, Wu Guifu, explained how the machine worked and offered medical advice to Halperin.

    At the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, visitors were shown the International Medical Center.

    Tour attendees were impressed by what they saw, but they also had suggestions to offer.

    Australian dentist Zac Morse suggested that hospitals in Shenzhen offer more English services during the tour.

    Though many hospitals in Shenzhen have big plans for development, there are still insufficient English services available to foreigners, said Morse.

    “The hospitals in Futian are very impressive and have big plans. I’m sure they will get bigger,” said Morse. “However, the hospitals should have more English access.

    “The doctors or the professors might have certificates from Harvard or Yale and speak very good English, but the receptionists don’t speak good English and that’s the end of the story,” said Morse. He suggested hospitals establish English-language phone numbers, websites and apps.

    “Like most of the expatriates, I don’t know the health care system in China very well because there’s not much information in English,” said Morse. “In Australia, you can find everything on websites in multiple languages.”

    Morse said expats rely on Chinese friends to translate or travel to Hong Kong to see doctors. The Australian dentist moved to Shenzhen five years ago. He practiced in Hong Kong before.

    Wang Yimin, a doctor from the Futian People’s Hospital, said that their hospital began training medical staff to speak English beginning last year.

    An English corner was set up last year for medical employees to practice English and learn basic medical vocabulary, according to Wang.

    The one-day tour ended at the Mangrove Ecological Park. Morse said he was glad he joined the tour as he sees Shenzhen as his home and wants to get a deep understanding of what’s happening in the city.

    “The tour is a very good opportunity for expatriate residents to experience the facilities ... as we seldom have access because of language barriers,” said Morse.

    (Cindy Zhang)