ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Wednesday, 19 March 2014, at 5.45 pm
We had then planned to have the Chinese Ambassador address the Branch. He has had to return briefly to China, however, and will instead address our April meeting.
Futures Panel
Instead, we are arranging a Futures Panel. What we hope for from the Futures Panel and any discussion which follows it are ideas or initiatives that could make the NZ China Friendship Society more responsive to the needs of the 21st century. The Panel will comprise a group of our younger members, most of them quite recent members. We will be asking each of them to speak very briefly about their interest in the Society, what they consider would attract more younger members and what activities they would like to see the Branch involved in. We will then invite discussion from the floor.
We hope that as many members as possible will attend this unusual meeting. It promises to give us a unique insight into the perspectives of younger members, perspectives which our Branch will need to take into account as we decide on priorities and organise ourselves for the future.
Members taking part on the panel and in discussions include Connie Minett, Faye Zhang, Jack Irvine, Jordan King, Justin Ngai, Karim Dickie, Kristen Ng, Russell Metge, Susie Shaw and Teng Zhang.
Connolly Hall, Guildford Terrace, off Hill Street, Thorndon, Wellington (see map)
(Car park up Guildford Tce beside Hall)
An optional Chinese buffet meal, supplied by the Fujiyama Café, will follow the meeting at 7 pm. Orders for the $11.00 meal (please pay at the door) will be taken up till 6 pm. If you think you may be arriving late, please let the Secretary know in advance.
MEETING DATES FOR 2014
The dates Connolly Hall has been booked for monthly meetings this year are 23 April, 21 May, 22 June, 20 July, 20 August, 17 September, 15 October, 19 November.
ALSO COMING UP THIS MONTH (see below for details)
9 March, 6:30pm Tales from the Forbidden City, Michael Fowler Centre
15, 22 March, 3:15pm Mandarin Corner, 24 Kelburn Parade (contact Jingyuan Kong [email protected], phone 04 463 9549)
27 March, 7:15pm Chinese Film, 101 Wakefield St
NEW MEMBERS
A warm welcome to Francis Chai, Ken & Jean Chan, Rodney Grindey, Nicholas Hoare, Liz Hay, Catherine Holzem, Rong Kang & Alexander Brown, Bridget McDonald, Kirk McDowall, Kristen Ng and Faye Zhang.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – WEDNESDAY MARCH 19th 2014
The Branch AGM will be held on Wednesday, 19 March 2014 at 5.45pm at Connolly Hall. Nominations are invited for President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and seven Committee members. Members please consider standing for one of the elected positions. Nominations should be made on the nomination form, to be sent to the Secretary, and may also be taken from the floor of the meeting. Current officers and committee members who are prepared to serve for another year are:
President: Michael Powles
Vice President: Christine Strickland
Secretary: Vacant (Graham Gibbs nominated)
Treasurer: Eugenie McCabe
Committee members: Ray Brownrigg, Bing Fon, Graham Gibbs, Rosemary Jones, Annette Meates and Jill Taylor
Bruce Asher, Doreen Launder and Luke Qin are stepping down.
The President’s Report is now available from the Branch website.
CHINESE NEW YEAR BANQUET (from Jill Taylor)
This year’s New Year Banquet was held at the Dragon’s Restaurant on Sunday 16th February. Although attendance was slightly down on last year’s a great time was had by all with lots of noise and chatter. The menu was, as usual, varied and delicious.
The Wellington President, Mr Michael Powles welcomed all present including the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, HE Wang Lutong, Embassy cultural secretaries, Deputy Mayor Justin Lester and other guests. Also present were members of Asia NZ Foundation, China and New Zealand Business Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Te Papa Museum of New Zealand and Wellington Chinese Association.
The Ambassador spoke with enthusiasm about the short time he has been in New Zealand and the freshness of the countryside. Adding it is his intention during his time here to travel around the country meeting with members of local governments and the community.
Mr Powles the introduced the other Speakers, Hon Philip Burdon, Patron of the NZCFS and Mr Dave Bromwich, National President, NZCFS.
This year the Committee decided to reserve full tables for groups if requested otherwise folk chose where to sit and with whom. This appeared to work very well for all concerned. Towards the end of the evening the anticipated Raffle draw saw the lucky ones receive prizes. Our thanks to the Embassy for the generous donation of wine and some of the raffle prizes. A good start to the Year of the Horse.
NATIONAL CONFERENCE 23 – 25 May 2014 
The 2014 National Conference and AGM will be hosted by Hawkes Bay Branch at the Havelock North Function Centre, with the theme “Voices for Youth”. For more information see the Registration Pack with information on registration and accommodation. The registration fee is $120 and the banquet cost is $45. If you are interested in attending please contact Graham Gibbs [email protected]. Wellington Branch will make a subsidy of $60 towards the registration fee of its first 10 financial members who register.
WE REMEMBER
With great sadness we note the passing in February of two long-term members Frank Kwok and David Beard.
Frank Kwok was a regular attendee at Branch meetings over many years.
David was also Secretary and Treasurer of the Chinese Language Association Wellington Branch for many years and helped run the Chinese film evenings and the Mandarin Corner.
TWO EXTRAORDINARY EXHIBITIONS FROM THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CHINA
New Zealand China Friendship Society is proud to support two stunning exhibitions coming to Te Papa 22 
March-22 June, directly from the National Museum of China. NZCFS is the official Education Partner and is facilitating free educator-led programmes for school groups to these exhibitions, with assistance from the Simon Deng Li Fund. This is a Wellington Branch project.
Throne of Emperors 七位中国天子与其生活的时代 presents a broad sweep of 2,000 years of Chinese history. Focusing on seven fascinating emperors and their dynasties, it explores China’s political, cultural, and social development – from a newly unified country under Emperor Qin Shihuang (259–210 BCE) to a highly cultured civilisation under the Qianlong Emperor (1711–99). The exhibition, which has been developed exclusively for Te Papa, showcases a broad selection of cultural treasures rarely seen outside the National Museum of China.
Emperor Qianlong, Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) National Museum of China
Shi Lu: A revolution in paint 革命的艺术，艺术的革命 – 石鲁艺术展 introduces Australasia to one of the masters of modern Chinese art. Shi Lu (1919–82) faced the immense challenge of balancing aesthetics with politics through a period of constantly shifting expectations, particularly during the Cultural Revolution. But he never lost his unique artistic vision. At a time when the status of traditional Chinese painting was fiercely debated, he revitalised it for a modern age.
Shi Lu paints a lotus flower, 1981. Image courtesy of Shi Lu’s Family
Admission Charges apply. One ten dollar ticket provides an adult with access to both exhibitions. Children under 15 years are FREE.
EXPLORE CHINA THE NORTHEAST TOUR, May 28-June 20 2014
Watch the sun rise on top of one of China’s Five sacred mountains, visit the home of Confucius and encounter Siberian tigers all on our 2014 tour. For the first time, the fully-escorted NZCFS tour visits China’s rugged North East, from where Russian, Korean and Japanese influences have all had an important impact on China today. More details, including the full itinerary, are on our website: nzchinasociety.org.nz/15126/explore-china-the-northeast-tour.
For more information please contact Ann White, email:
[email protected] or phone: 03 614 8944.
CHINESE FILM 中国电影 – Thursday 27 March, 2014
Venue: Committee Room One, Wellington City Council, 101 Wakefield Street. Gold coin donation.
7.15pm: 泥鳅也是鱼 （Loach is Fish Too) (98 minutes, 2006)
This is a movie about migrant workers attempting to eke out an existence in Beijing. A recent divorcee Ni Qiu (meaning “loach” in Chinese) took her cute little twin girls to Beijing in search of a better life. Along the way she meets a man who has the same name as her! They suffer many a misfortune, but manage to get on their feet, share some laughs, fall in love despite mutual misgivings and the baggage of past relationships.
Director: 杨亚洲 Yang Yazhou. Cast: 倪大红 Ni Dahong，倪萍 Ni Ping ，潘虹 Pan Hong
With Support from the Chinese Embassy and Confucius Institute, Victoria University of Wellington.
TALES FROM THE FORBIDDEN CITY THIS SUNDAY MARCH 9
The New Zealand String Quartet and the Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra present the World Premier of Tales From The Forbidden City.
In this groundbreaking project, the most renowned contemporary ensemble in China joins with the acclaimed New Zealand String Quartet to perform works written especially for the two groups by Chinese and New Zealand composers.
The centrepiece is a major new music and film collaboration by Michael Norris and David Downes, paired with a new concerto for piano and traditional instruments by one of China’s best known composers, Gao Ping. Tales from the Forbidden City is the culmination of a year’s work – it will astonish your ears, delight your eyes and stretch your mind. See festival.co.nz/tales-from-the-forbidden-city/ for more details. Book at Ticketek.
VUW CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE WELCOMES 21 MANDARIN LANGUAGE ASSISTANTS FROM CHINA
On Monday 17 February, the Confucius Institute at VUW welcomes 21 Mandarin Language Assistants (MLAs) newly arrived from China to work in 30 primary, intermediate and secondary schools in Wellington, Wanganui, the Wairarapa and the Bay of Plenty, as well as at Victoria University and IPC in Palmerston North. The MLAs, 19 new and two returning, will take part in a one-week orientation programme in Wellington that includes an introduction to the NZ education system, presentations by Chinese teachers in NZ, school visits, guided tours of Parliament and Te Papa, and a special reception hosted by the Ambassador and the Education Counselor at the Chinese Embassy. The MLAs will assist with the Chinese teaching programmes at their host schools until December 2014. The VUW Confucius Institute will monitor their progress and provide them with on-going support throughout the year.
The accumulative achievements of the MLAs are astounding: in 2013, the MLAs offered a total of 175 Chinese language classes to 3,593 primary, intermediate, high school and tertiary students. The VUW Confucius Institute is working closely with local schools and other educational institutions to ensure the continuing success of the programme.
BREAST FEEDING CLASSES IN MANDARIN
Capital and Coast DHB and Hutt Valley DHB are continuing to run breastfeeding classes in Mandarin at Hutt Hospital, to help prepare our Chinese mothers for breastfeeding their new babies. Chinese mothers often struggle to breastfeed, and their exclusive breastfeeding rates on discharge from hospital in 2013 were only 55.9%, whilst the average was 77.7%. Chinese babies deserve to have the health benefits of breastfeeding!
The next classes are on April 5th and 12th, and June 14th and 21st.
If you know of any pregnant Chinese women, please do let them know about the class. They’re free! And the feedback from participants has been excellent. For further information, see:
www.healthpoint.co.nz/specialists/obstetric-and-gynaecology/capital-coast-dhb-womens-health-obstetrics/breastfeeding-classes-chinese-mandarin, or contact [email protected], TXT: 021 793 101.
SUBSCRIPTION RENEWALS
Subscriptions for 2014 are now due. Please use the attached Subscription Form. We prefer that you fill in all the details each year to confirm.
NI HAO CHILDREN’S COMMUNITY
This new group is being organised as a place for children and their families to learn Mandarin Chinese together. Please check web site for the survey they have provided to enable them to put together a programme that is best suited to the participants. www.nihaocc.org.nz
