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Manawatu Branch Newsletter November 2013

Next Meeting November 21st 

At 7.30pm in the ETC Learning Center, 14 Broadway Ave (above Bean Café),  Palmerston North

                                                                                                                                  Speaker :- Dave Bromwich National President

Developing NZ/China Relationships : What is being done and what could be done.

China is becoming an increasingly important country in the lives of many New Zealanders and it is time for us to improve our understanding and knowledge of this culturally, geographically and economically diverse nation. Dave will outline some of the educational, agricultural and health projects the NZCFS is currently  involved with in China. These include expansion of the long running programme for economic development projects in rural communities. With the establishment of a new “North-west China Cooperative Development Centre”  with NZCFS’ colleagues and partners in China, a modern extension of the cooperative movement that was re-established by Rewi Alley in the 1980s is meeting the challenge in the villages. Furthering a relationship with Jiangxi province is showing great promise to develop  a wide range of activities, especially in education exchanges, agricultural technologies and exchange  in  environment and conservation expertise. Exciting future developments include NZCFS participation in the construction of a New Zealand village in Shandan ( near the site of Rewi Alley’s famous Bailie School). Another very important area for NZCFS is assisting young New Zealanders to develop interest in China, and providing them with opportunities to engage in Chinese society and many levels. Learn how NZCFS is going about this, and what results are forth-coming.

At Our Recent Meetings     In August we held an interesting meeting in the Palmerston North City Library at which two visiting scholars spoke about their homeland in Northwest China. Dr.      Wang Libin is a visiting scholar from Lanzhou Agricultural University in Gansu who specialises in veterinary reproduction. His home province extends from the Yellow river and Qilian mountains in southern Gansu along the Old Silk Road up to the Gobi desert in the North.     Zhangye 1 2007_075_006Zhangye 1 2007_075_021 Gansu is nearly twice the size of New Zealand and has a population of about 25 million. It has a diverse range of climates and is famous for its beef noodles and Shouzhua lamb.   Libin described the geographic, agricultural and economic features of Gansu and mentioned the arts and crafts found in the region including the famous Taiping drum dance which is part of the spring festival and Yuan xiao (lantern) festival. Following this, Ms Xu Jingjing, a veterinary microbiologist from near Urumqi in Xinjiang gave us an enthralling account of this remote area of China with its many minority groups including the Uighur, Kazak and Tajik people.  The minority groups in Xinjiang have a rich culture of singing and dancing as well as a great love of horses. Jingjing illustrated this with some videos of traditional Uighur and Kazak songs and dances many of which featured native horses.

2005 266     In September an informal pot luck tea was held at Atawhai Road to celebrate the moon festival and say farewell to Xu jingjing and her husband who have now returned to their home in Xinjiang.

2005 169

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Other items Cookbook launch.  A reminder that the Manawatu Chinese Association is holding its launch of “Por Pors Cookbook” written by Carolyn King at 12pm on Sunday November 17th . Those interested in attending should contact Jason Leong at [email protected]. Books for Bazhong  This is an English Language teaching project initiated by Jan Mcleod and the late Graham Jackson from Whanganui which aims to improve English  teaching in Sichuan using kiwi interactive teaching methods. With the assistance of Rosy Look, Sue Baird and Emily Te Ngaipu the project has now been extended to involve more than 30 Chinese English teachers in the region. It has recently been successful in obtaining funding from the Rewi Alley Friendship and Exchange Fund and this money will assist in providing better resources for guided reading so that all Bazhong kids who wish to, can access quality “native” English at their own level.

Maurice Alley 14th November 2013