Manawatu Branch
New Zealand China Friendship Society October Newsletter 2012
Next Meeting
1.30pm Friday October 29th At English Language Partners, 162 The Square/Coleman Place, Palmerston North.
“A Tale of Two Cities:- The recent prominent persons and future leaders tour ”
Speaker: Kate Lau
This year the NZCFS prominent persons and future leaders tour visited two famous Chinese cities. The first was Changchun, capital of Jilin province in the Northeast which hosted the Pacific Rim Friendship Forum. The 17 New Zealand delegates were among over 100 Pacific Rim delegates attending the Forum. The New Zealand delegation then moved south to visit Chengdu, capital Sichuan province in the Southwest where they were among 700 delegates from all over the world attending the International Sister Cities Conference
Kate will focus on these two events and will also touch on topics like working across cultures, cooperation, the work of volunteers, learning a language etc etc. She will also include her impressions on China, its culture and its people in 2012.
At Our Last Meeting
On Monday the 20th August our branch successfully hosted an exhibition of photographs
of the life of Rewi Alley compiled by the Chinese artists Deng Bang Zheng and Lu Bo.
The exhibition was held in conjunction with the Palmerston North City Library and was facilitated by events organiser Genny Vella. The photographic exhibition documented the life of Rewi from his early days at Moeawatea through to his work in famine and flood relief in China, the establishment of the Gungho cooperatives during the Japanese invasion, the organisation of the Baillie schools in Shuangshipu and Shandan and to his later work travelling in China and writing for international peace and understanding.
More than 60 photographs were exhibited in the library foyer as well as the archives room annex . The exhibition was officially opened by local Palmerston North City Councillor for Takaro, Mr Tangi Utikere and it ran for more than two weeks before returning to Auckland.