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Christchurch Branch Newsletter – September 2013

66

chinaday

IMPORTANT: Please note, there will be no monthly meeting in September, because we have the National Day Banquet on Sunday 29th September (see booking form on the next page).

This banquet will also raise money for the He Ming Qing Nursing Scholarship in China.  Over the years, the He Ming Qing Scholarship has been supporting a number of nursing students from rural area China to complete their nursing training. Many of these students are already making great contributions to rural Chinese communities’ healthcare. 

We look forward to having you join us for this very special event.

 

 


 

New Members 

A welcome to our new members!

  • Alexander Plunket

 


 

“Rewi Alley in China” Exhibition

21 SEPTEMBER – 30 OCTOBER 2013

VISITOR LOUNGE

Canterbury Museum‎

 

Rewi Alley
Rewi Alley

Rewi Alley, who had spent two-thirds of his lifetime in China, was regarded as an old friend of Chinese people. Through copies of precious photographs, archives and video, we hope to show his legendary experience in China of about sixty years and his dedication to the friendship between New Zealand and China.

The five parts of the exhibition, Rewi Alley in China, are

“Early Life”,

“Shanghai Memory”

“Participation in Gung Ho Cooperative Movement”

“Establishing the Bailie School” and

“Days in China”

Approximately 120 photographs with captions and a video will be on display. The sources of the exhibits are mainly from historical records and collections of Shanghai Municipal Archives. Among the exhibits, some related files on Rewi Alley’s work in Shanghai Municipal Council will be released for the first time.

The exhibition will be open to the public at the Canterbury Museum from 21 September.

 


 

China Daily Article – Heritage Homes made from seaweed

By Han Bingbin

Seaweed bungalows are indigenous architecture in Rongcheng, Shandong province. Ju Chuanjiang / China Daily
Seaweed bungalows are indigenous architecture in Rongcheng, Shandong province.
Ju Chuanjiang / China Daily

It is a rainy afternoon, a perfect occasion to indulge in nostalgia and share memories with a visitor from afar.

Yu Shoushui, 65, is relaxed and eager to count off all the advantages of his little heritage bungalow made from seaweed harvested from the nearby shores. He has lived here for decades, sharing his home with his 83-year-old mother. “Nothing, not even a modern two-story building, can persuade me to move out,” he declares.

 His house, he says, is cool in summer and warm in winter. The grass roof can stand up to the strongest winds, and the house is good looking. But he has to admit that his little hamlet of seaweed bungalows is now a village full of the elderly.

The old folks acknowledge that the modern new homes are indications of the better possibilities of life, but they feel that it is the unique seaweed homes that carry their cultural heritage.

The history of Rongcheng’s seaweed bungalows can be traced back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and they were already common structures from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). It was said that the ancestors of the Rongcheng villagers started using eel grass as roofing material after they found that the dried grass was very pliable and tough. The tradition was passed down through many generations, each improving on the accidental discovery until it became part of theregional architecture.

Eel-grass thatched roofs are insect-proof, mold-resistant and fire-resistant, all thanks to the natural chemical makeup of the grass, which contains traces of halogen and colloid. In spite of all the periods of turbulence and socio-economic changes, Rongcheng is still home to 95,000 seaweed bungalows, the oldest of which has stood for 300 years.

Just 40 years ago, according to the local folklore expert Yu Yingyu, seaweed bungalows were common all along the eastern coastline of China, but they are rarely found beyond Rongcheng now. Apart from modern aesthetics, most people find that building a seaweed thatched house is not an efficient process, by modern standards.