INFO SERVICE: Prisoners in Wujiaochang Prison receive advice at an imitation office for industry & commerce on July 19 (COURTESY OF WUJIAOCHANG PRISON)

In Wujiaochang Prison in Shanghai, Liu Qiang (pseudonym) watches the critically acclaimed 1994 movie, The Shawshank Redemption. One character in particular resonates with Liu—Brooks, a man who spent 50 years inside the prison where the movie is set. At one point in the movie, another character comments: "These walls are funny. First you hate them. Then you get used to them. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them."

Brooks eventually commits suicide after finding it impossible to adjust to life on the outside.

Liu said he understands Brooks but feels he is definitely luckier than the fictional character, as he doesn't share the same setbacks.

Moving on

Liu, 46, has been in prison for 12 years but will be released in September.

Wujiaochang Prison, where Liu stays now, has been in use for 62 years. In 2011, a rehabilitation center for convicts was set up here. Now, the prison mainly houses people with sentences under one year and prisoners transferred from other jails with only three months left to serve.

The prison has an imitation bank, police office, office for industry & commerce, and other government departments, which are designed to help prisoners get ready for the process of regaining their identification and possible insurance.

"This is to help them learn their legitimate rights as a citizen," said Zhou Bin, Deputy Director of the Office of Wujiaochang Prison. "Many prisoners are very afraid of returning to society as they think they have nothing there and worry about money, food and everything. Here, we teach them that the conditions and process of applying for subsistence allowance and low-rent housing."

Zhou told Beijing Review that some prisoners have been imprisoned for a long time and haven't even seen the current paper currency that was put into circulation in 1999. "In the imitation bank, they can learn how to get a bank card and use an ATM," he said.

"We also provide psychological services to help them relieve their stress," Zhou added.

Liu was transferred to Wujiaochang Prison in June. Having been separated from the outside world for such a long time, Liu said that he feels anxious about returning to the outside. But his worries have been relieved after more than two months of training in the new jail.

Liu spent the first two weeks learning about the law and reflecting on his time in prison. Then he received vocational training as a gardener and electrician in the following two months. "The training helped me to pick up my confidence of making a living in the outside world," Liu said. "It was very helpful".

He Zhikang, Deputy Director of the Education Department in Wujiaochang Prison, said that vocational training classes including car polishing, restaurant service, cooking, gardening and more. "We have a few job fairs every year in the prison," he said. "Some prisoners sign employment contracts even before they get released."

Liu obtained a gardening certificate after the training and several companies already offered to employ him. "I now no longer worry about making an income," Liu said.

"Figures show that 9 percent of released prisoners who haven't received the reentry training would commit crimes again, while among those who have received the training, the number is only 3 percent," He said.

A helpful hand

"The imitation bank and government offices in prison are just a tiny part of the whole picture of the outside world," Zhou said. "The challenges waiting for ex-convicts are still numerous. If not well guided, they are likely to commit crimes again."

"I was rejected by employers everywhere," said 50-year-old Zhao Lu (pseudonym), who was released in 2004 after serving 14 years in prison for theft, but was imprisoned again in early 2005 for fraud. "I really wanted to be a changed person, but it seemed society just won't accept me."

After another three-and-a-half-year stay in prison, Zhao was released in 2008 and found it tough to get a job once more. When he was about to give up trying and turn back to crime, he got a call from Wang Yuanhong, who offered to provide Zhao with a job and free accommodation.