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Shandan Bailie in October 2014

The Qilian Mountains, southern marging of the Gansu corridor
The Qilian Mountains, South of Shandan.  They form the southern margin of the Gansu corridor

The month started with holidays – the seven-day National Holiday followed four days of school sports.   The National Holiday celebrates the founding of the People’s Republic of China on 1st October 1949.   Many students and teachers travelled to visit their families; then returned to school ready for the next few months – no more holidays until 2015!

The school hosted a number of visits from delegations, eager to see Rewi Alley’s memorabilia and photos, and view the technical teaching the students are able to receive here.

The Ninth International Exchange Member Delegation of Gansu Province came on a field trip.   Delegation titles do tend to be all-encompassing rather than brief or succinct!  This was a large international group, participants selected from the sister cities Gansu has throughout the world.  It included two New Zealand women from the Selwyn area.  The group were hosted by the Gansu Government, spending two months learning about Chinese culture while being based in Lanzhou.

The next day a delegation from Fonterra and Youxie arrived, they were treated to a tour of Lei Tai [Rewi’s ‘Tower’ residence] and Rewi’s photo collections, and also the Training School facilities. Meetings were held to discuss future connections between SBS and Fonterra, which would focus on shared NZ connections and Rewi Alley’s legacy.

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Full lunar eclipse, October 2014, from Shandan Bailie School

Next month the mayor of Shandan will be visiting Auckland, keeping the links between this area and NZ strong.

The weather is unpredictable at this time of year: on the 8th Oct, I waited at the top of the Training School building, taking photos of the lunar eclipse as the sun set, with a tropical night temperature of 24C.  Two days later Gansu was hit by the heaviest snowfall in 50 years.  Is this a promise of the winter to come?!  The trees still had their summer foliage, so there were many broken branches lining the streets – the weight of a foot of snow was too much for them.

Students are preparing for winter temperatures.  It’s only just daylight now when they begin their morning run and exercises.

Jane Furkert, November 2014