Les Molloy
“The Natural World Heritage Sites of China”
~ Next meeting: 19 October ~
The full pdf of this newsletter is available at: NZCFSNelsonOctober2012.pdf
Dr Les Molloy is a natural heritage consultant with a background in scientific research (DSIR) and in national park and protected area identification and management (DOC). He is the author of 6 books on different aspects of New Zealand’s natural environment.
For the past 20 years, Les has travelled widely in the mountains, forests and deserts of East and Central Asia. Much of this travel has been on behalf of UNESCO and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), to evaluate natural areas nominated for World Heritage status. He has helped Chinese government agencies identify possible World Heritage sites and advised on ways to improve their management.
First in China in 1980 on a Science Delegation, Les has been back 16 times, sometimes guiding New Zealand groups, including Royden’s 4-wheel drive expedition along the Tea Horse Route from Yunnan Province to Tibet. The wide scope of his travels will be evident in his striking photographs of landscapes and people from all over China. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Les speak so enthusiastically about China’s diverse natural world.
As usual, we will begin with a brief general meeting at 5.30 p.m. and then enjoy our meal from Golden Bell, including vegetarian options, at 6 p.m., costing $12. Our speaker will begin about 7 p.m.
Friends and visitors are most welcome but please notify Barbara when you ring so that we have accurate numbers for the meal.
Friday 19 October .. Hearing House .. 5:30 pm
To arrange catering please ring:
Barbara Markland Ph. 544 4712 by Tuesday 16 October
or e-mail Barbara: [email protected]
LAST MEETING: David Cogger, Ethnic Liaison Officer for the Tasman Police District since 2007, provided a fascinating insight into the many ethnic communities in the Nelson Bays area and the proactive vision established by the police to help refugees and migrants adjust to their new community.
He noted that 1 in 4 New Zealanders weren’t born here and that there are 47 nationalities living in our district, with 6 ethnic support teachers based at Victory. Through working with the elders and liaising directly with these different communities, the police have seen a huge reduction in domestic violence and drink driving amongst these groups. David also helps with orientation for NMIT’s international students and works closely with the Nelson Multicultural Council on programmes to combat racism.
The “10 Ways to Combat Racism” poster he mentioned is available here:
http://www.nelsonmulticultural.co.nz/INFORMATION/10+Ways+to+Eliminate+Racism.html
PROMINENT PERSONS AND LEADERS DELEGATION 2012 – Marilyn Gibbs reports:
Lillian Li and myself were privileged to take part in the Prominent Persons and Leaders Delegation to China last month. New Zealand had 16 delegates in total – 10 from the NZCFS, 3 from Sister Cities NZ and a 3 person Maori delegation. We were actually the largest delegation at the Forum.
The one day Friendship Forum was held in Changchun – Jilin Province (Sister City of Masterton) and involved Pacific Rim countries including Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Micronesia, USA, Australia, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, China and NZ, with about 100 delegates in all. The NZ team played a very big part in this conference and it was a very warm and friendly event.
Changchun is a fast growing city of over 10 million people. Construction is happening everywhere. Cranes are very evident on every skyline. Roads were in very good condition and the motor vehicles were very modern. I was impressed with the green spaces and gardens that we saw. The Sculpture Park was a highlight for me as I had heard about it from the Sister City Conference in Masterton in 2010.
From Changchun we flew to Chengdu for the second conference – the China International Friendship Cities Conference. This event was huge – about 700 people. A wide range of topics were discussed under the conference banner “Happy City, Green Living”. Bernard Duncan from Christchurch gave a presentation on disaster management following the Christchurch earthquakes which was extremely well received. This conference proved a challenge for many of the speakers who had been asked to prepare 20 minute presentations and this was reduced to 6 minutes and operated with a stop watch with time being called.
The Panda Research Centre in Chengdu was a place I had often seen on TV. The parkland area was very beautiful with so much to see.
Overall I was very impressed with the progress China has made since I was last there in 2001.
NZCFS WEBSITE NEWS: The video that was filmed during the 2011 Projects Tour, and shown at Conference, is now on the NZCFS website homepage. Auckland member, Sylvia Yang, has created a wonderful record of the tour and cleverly encapsulated the history and work of the Society.
Other new additions to the website include:
Commemoration Events During the 60th Anniversary Silk Road and Projects Tour at:
https://nzchinasociety.org.nz/11220/commemoration-events-of-the-nzcfs-60th-birthday-tour/
Information on the next NZCFS tour to South East China in April/May, 2013.
https://nzchinasociety.org.nz/10795/explore-china-the-south-east-aprilmay-2013/
As part of our greater use of social media, we also now have an official NZCFS Facebook page. “Like” our page, make your own contributions, add your favourite photos and be kept up to date with regular posts:
http://www.facebook.com/NZChinaSociety
HUANGSHI CALLIGRAPHER COMES TO NELSON: The Past-President of the Huangshi Calligrapher’s Association, Zhang Defang, arrived in Nelson with his wife on Friday, 28 September.
As Zhang Defang and Tian Yan had never travelled outside China and spoke no English, Barbara Markland did an incredible amount of organising for the complicated arrangements that were needed for them to have short tours in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch before and after their four days in Nelson.
Jifang Black showed them around Nelson on the Saturday and there was a dinner at the Nelson Oriental Restaurant in the evening. Sunday, 30 September, saw the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, coinciding with the full moon, and members of Nelson Branch were invited to enjoy Chinese tea and mooncakes in the Chinese Garden.
Zhang Defang demonstrates some calligraphy at the garden party with NZCFS members.
On the Monday, Mayor Aldo Miccio hosted the visitors for morning tea and then it was another visit to the Chinese Garden with garden designer, Andrew Petheram, and translator Wang Yuan to decide on the placing and nature of the writings.
After lunch, Mr Zhang worked his magic, preparing seven banners which will be transferred to suitable sites at the garden. Two will be on rocks near the two entrances, one will be on a rock inside the garden, one will go above the moon gate, and three will be at the entrance to the pavilion.
Mr Zhang drew the characters to be transferred to rocks and structures in the Chinese Garden.
On Monday evening, a pot-luck meal at Kathy and Michael Beatson’s gave us a final opportunity to meet with our guests, and to thank Mr Zhang for his contribution to our garden in Nelson. We extend special thanks to all who contributed so freely to the success of this sister-city interaction, and look forward to the results being on public display in our ‘Scholar’s Garden’.
NELSON MEMBERS VISIT KATHLEEN HALL’S VILLAGE, SONGJIAZHUANG:
Towards the end of their ‘Anniversary Tour’ last month, Chris Mouter and Christine and Bruce Ward visited Songjiazhuang to deliver Nelson Branch’s gift of $NZ1,000 for the rebuilding of the school and community toilets. All the students were assembled in front of Kathleen Hall’s statue and, after the presentation speeches, each class had a photograph taken with the tour group.
There will be more reports later about this amazing tour, combining the Silk Road, NZCFS Projects and the 60th Anniversary celebrations.
The people of Songjiazhuang, where Kathleen Hall (He Ming Qing) spent so much time during the Japanese War, send their heartfelt thanks to Nelson Branch for their generous gift which is so helpful and is greatly contributing towards the health and well-being of this isolated village.
DELEGATION TO HUANGSHI: Planning is underway for a ‘Friendship Delegation’ to visit Huangshi in October, 2013. This would probably be for 5 nights during the second week of October.
It may seem early to be planning this but flight schedules will be out shortly and also decisions will have to be made about who is to join the delegation. The Principal of Nelson College for Girls is likely to be one member and it is hoped someone from the hospital will go as well.
Protocol dictates that up to 8 people can join a delegation and so expressions of interest are invited from branch members. Delegates will have to pay their own fares to China but accommodation, meals and transport for the time in Huangshi will be met by the Huangshi Municipal government. Discounted fares are likely to be available in February or March so tickets would have to be paid for then.
If you are interested please contact Barbara Markland (ph 544 4712 or email [email protected]) or speak to her at the branch meeting.
Is wet really clean?
– Aukje Both & Ferry van Mansum
A bunch of rags tightly tied to a sturdy stick and you have the prototype of the Chinese cleaning weapon of choice, the mop. During the day you can see them hanging in trees, leaning upside down against a wall, or stuck to the frame of an old bike, their drying strands like colourful banners of battle. There has not been a single day since we have been in China that we have not seen a mop slopped around with different degrees of enthusiasm.
Our students, when they are on duty, use it to clean classrooms, blackboards, corridors and carpets. To wet the mop they simply dip it in the bowl of the squat toilets, flush and then trail it behind them over the linoleum floors until they reach their target. If it is wet, it must be clean. To rinse the mop, it goes back into the toilet.
In buses there is often a big bucket tied behind the driver’s seat with grey water sloshing almost over rim when the bus takes a tight corner or comes to a sudden stop. At the end of each route the driver or ticket seller dips a mop in the bucket to make the bus wet and respectable again, the water in the bucket turning a different, darker shade of grey as the day progresses.
Trains have an attendant in each carriage and, apart from checking train tickets and calling out the name of the next stop, their task is to keep their section of the train spic and span. So they check that the luggage is neatly stowed in the rack overhead, with no bits poking out, they come round to collect rubbish and, of course, they mop. Some take their task very seriously, coming around every two hours to evenly distribute wet patches that have accumulated in the train – hot water that has been spilled from the boiler, left-over broth from instant noodles, water or juice from dropped drink bottles and other unidentified wet spots, possibly created by split-pants-wearing toddlers.
In supermarkets, mopping floors is team work, with always at least one staff member drying the floor with a piece of cardboard. However, train attendants have to do the mopping by themselves, and only seconds after people have lifted their feet or stepped out of the way of the approaching wet rag, the damp aisle carries a design of multiple footprints again. And guess where the mop gets cleaned.
The train attendant was a student once and the toilets on the train look wet and reasonably clean, but where is the smell of bleach when you need it?
Museums, monasteries, restaurants, shops, waiting rooms, they all get another “once-over” at the end of the day, or at the end of someone’s shift and it does not matter whether there are still people around or not. When the musty smell of damp, dirty laundry gets pushed towards you to create the “clean wet look”, you don’t have to understand Chinese to know it is time to move your stuff, or your feet, to higher, drier grounds. But if it is dry, is it clean?
