First Society Meeting: The original handwritten minute book of the Society records:   Wednesday 27 February 1952 at 8pm saw a group of 4 women and 13 men meeting in room 13, Tabernacle Buildings, Karangahape Road, Auckland, “for the purpose of forming an organization of friendship and understanding of China and the Chinese People”. Mr B Read took the chair and after discussion it was agreed the name be “ The China Friendship Association” with a subscription of two shillings and six … [Read more...]

    Rewi Alley died 27 December 1987 in Beijing. Thursday, 27 Dec, 2011, was the 24th anniversary of his death. The Dominion Post marked this day with a very interesting article ‘Ordinary person' did extraordinary things. To download a pdf file of this article: click HERE.                   … [Read more...]

Baoji Xinxing for Street Kids In the course of project work, Dave Bromwich (NZCFS National Vice President – North Island) has twice visited a Chinese orphange that assists children who have been kidnapped or abandoned. They rehabilitate, relocate or care for the children as orphans.  The work done is fully recognised by the local Chinese authorities, with police often bringing street kids to the centre for care.  The centre is provided with a very adequate building and some running expenses … [Read more...]

On October 10th, China celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai revolution which swept aside the Qing dynasty and resulted in the foundation of the Chinese Republic. Please click here: Yeung Kui-wan article, Oct 2011, to access an intriguing story about an early revolutionary martyr who is only just being recognised by the Hong Kong authorities, just in time for the Xinhai Anniversary... … [Read more...]

The following speech was delivered by Dave Bromwich, NZCFS Vice President at Beijing International Forum on People to People Friendship, September 6-8 2011 “New Zealand China Friendship Society’s Experience of International Cooperation” President of Beijing Youxie, fellow delegates.Pengyoumen, Nushimen, Xianshengmen, Nimen hao I bring you greetings from New Zealand China Friendship Society President Eric Livingstone, and all our members in New Zealand. I am very honoured to attend … [Read more...]

Hosted by Beijing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (BPAFFC) on September 6-8, 2011, this forum had a total of 85 delegates from 25 countries in attendance.  The forum was to commemorate the 30th anniversary of BPAFFC’s foundation.  New Zealand China Friendship Society was represented by Vice-President Dave Bromwich and Christchurch Branch committee member Deborah Rhode.  For Deborah, it was a chance to meet some old friends from BPAFFC and from around the world … [Read more...]

Auckland branch had the honour of welcoming a high-level delegation from Beijing at a dinner on Tuesday, September 4th 2011.  The delegation was lead by Mr Liao Hui, Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) [the Chinese equivalent of the US Senate] and also President of the China-Oceania Friendship Assoc. (COFA). Auckland President George Andrews stood in for National President Eric Livingstone who had issued the formal … [Read more...]

On September 3rd 2011, NZCFS Vice-President Dave Bromwich represented NZCFS at the formal signing of an agreement with Beijing Bailie University (BBU). BBU President Yu Lin signed for BBU at a meeting attended by vice-presidents and department leaders of BBU, and William Qiu from Christchurch Branch executive of NZCFS. The agreement outlines specific areas of activity including two way academic exchange and reception of visitors and delegations, and promotion of NZ and BBU as centres of … [Read more...]

NZCFS members may remember being regaled by beautiful gu-zheng music when they attended the National Conference in Hamilton in 2010.    The young musician was Xiyao Chen and he is making a name for himself on the music scene in NZ. Xiyao, or Yao as he is usually called, was raised in a very well-known traditional Chinese musical family in China.  His grandfather was famous as a composer and for playing the gu-zheng, as well as being one of the founders of the China Central … [Read more...]

New Zealand Chinese Language Association   A recent Victoria University, Wellington, PhD thesis has brought a new idea to the acquisition of foreign languages by emphasising how important a knowledge of the sounds of a language are before any attempt is made to study the language.  For the Chinese language this can be done by means of the NZCLA’s bilingual Chinese reader  Legends and Tales from Ancient China, because each of the 25 stories is read aloud on the accompanying CD Rom in … [Read more...]

Hawkes Bay folk got a chance to experience a cultural extravaganza last week when 13 members of the Guilin Performing Group from China visited the region.  They were here to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of their Sister-City connection with Hastings (the first in New Zealand) as part of delegations from the Guilin Municipal Government.   The delegations, comprising Mr Huang Junhua, executive vice-mayor of Guilin and officials from the Guilin Foreign Affairs Office, Civil Servants Bureau, … [Read more...]

Following the Pike River gas explosion and the deaths of 29 miners there, the economic impact of the redundancies among the workforce and suppliers became a second tragedy.  The West Coast, hard hit by the recession already, needs all the help it can get.  I believe in practical solutions and so do my Chinese colleagues. It is one of the most enjoyable things about working in China. They knew about the accident, expressed their concern and when I suggested some win-win solutions for the Coast … [Read more...]