It was School Sports week at Shandan Bailie School recently [September, 2014] and Jane Furkert, our teacher there, has described the event below:
Rewi’s Tower “Lei Tai” – the historic home of Rewi Alley in the Shandan Bailie School grounds – has been put to good use this week, as the centrepiece and grandstand overlooking the exercise grounds. The sports event stretches over 4 days, Friday to Monday, and, in typical Chinese fashion, the official “weekend” has been moved, so I think that the following Tuesday will be considered to be a Saturday… Timetabling here is never simple!
The event began with an impressive opening ceremony, displaying the dancing and musical talents of both students and teachers. Practice for this had taken up many evenings in the preceding weeks – Traditional Chinese legends enacted with drums and dance; ribbon and fan dances; teachers dressed and performing ethnic minority dance.
Then the sports – running races from 100m to 5000m, high jump, long jump, and shot put. The students compete class against class, within their school year-group. Those not competing line the sidelines, seated tidily in rows on their stools, a banner proclaiming their class name and teacher.
The local Education Department officials visited on the first day, and were shown through Rewi’s Tower. This historic raised tower was where Rewi Alley lived. It now contains memorabilia to his life – his writing desk, typewriter, chairs, books, sewing machine, local carpets.
It also contains, mounted around the walls, a large collection of photos of Rewi’s life – his meetings with Deng Xiaoping, Zhou Enlai, Madame Song Qingling, Mao Zedong; David Lange, and many more. There are other photos of Chinese scholars who studied in NZ, a number of whom now hold senior roles in the School; and photos of the many delegations from NZ who have visited here over the years.
Jane Furkert, September 2014
