{"id":18119,"date":"2014-09-26T21:44:29","date_gmt":"2014-09-26T09:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nzcfs.adminmouse.co.nz\/?p=18119"},"modified":"2018-08-25T12:39:15","modified_gmt":"2018-08-25T00:39:15","slug":"christchurch-branch-newsletter-september-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nzchinasociety.org.nz\/christchurch-branch-newsletter-september-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Christchurch Branch Newsletter – September 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

View Christchurch Branch Newsletter – September 2014 PDF<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Please Note<\/strong>: There will be no monthly meeting in September as we will have China<\/strong> National Day Banquet on Wednesday 1 October! <\/strong><\/p>\n

Next Event \u2013 1st<\/sup> October 2014<\/h2>\n

China<\/strong> National Day Banquet on Wednesday 1 October!<\/strong><\/p>\n

As usual, proceeds from the banquet will go toward the He Mingqing Nursing Scholarship programme in China, which for several years has supported a number of nursing students from rural areas in China to complete their nursing training. Many of these students are already making great contributions to rural Chinese communities’ healthcare.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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We have decided that rather than having a raffle this year at the banquet we will have a collection for the Yunnan Earthquake Appeal (an article about which appeared in our August newsletter), so please give what you would spend on raffle tickets to this worthy cause. Please see the banquet booking form at the end of this newsletter. Make up a group, come along and have a wonderful evening of food and friendship!<\/p>\n

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Moon Festival<\/em><\/h2>\n

The Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th<\/sup> of the 8th<\/sup> lunar month. Just like Christmas and Thanksgiving in the West, the Moon Festival is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese. The Moon Festival is also an occasion for family reunions. When the full moon rises, families get together to watch the full moon, eat moon cakes, and sing moon poems. With the full moon, the legend, the family and the poems, you can’t help thinking that this is really a perfect world. That is why the Chinese are so fond of the Moon Festival. Eating moon cakes is a symbol of the full moon “Reunion”. If a young person cannot be home for the festival, parents should carefully save their moon cake for when they return, so moon cakes are called “reunion cake”. Even for a couple who can’t be together, they can still enjoy the night by watching the moon at the same time so it seems that they are together at that hour. A great amount of poetry has been devoted to this romantic festival.<\/p>\n

\u6708\u997c\uff0c\u539f\u672c\u662f\u796d\u6708\u65f6\u7684\u4e00\u79cd\u4f9b\u54c1\uff0c\u62dc\u6708\u7ed3\u675f\u540e\uff0c\u5168\u5bb6\u4eba\u56f4\u5750\u4e00\u8d77\uff0c\u5171\u4eab\u796d\u54c1\uff0c\u540c\u8d4f\u660e\u6708\u3002\u5403\u6708\u997c\u65f6\uff0c\u8981\u5c06\u8c61\u5f81\u5706\u6708\u7684\u201c\u5927\u56e2\u5706\u201d\u6708\u997c\u6309\u4eba\u5207\u5757\uff0c\u6bcf\u4eba\u4e00\u4efd\u3002\u5bf9\u6ca1\u6709\u56de\u6765\u7684\u5bb6\u91cc\u4eba\uff0c\u5bb6\u957f\u8981\u628a\u5c5e\u4e8e\u4ed6\u7684\u4e00\u4efd\u6708\u997c\u8ba4\u771f\u4fdd\u7ba1\u8d77\u6765\uff0c\u5f85\u4ed6\u4eec\u56de\u6765\u65f6\u54c1\u5c1d\uff0c\u6545\u6708\u997c\u53c8\u79f0\u201c\u56e2\u5706\u997c\u201d\u3002\u540e\u6765\u4eba\u4eec\u9010\u6e10\u628a\u4e2d\u79cb\u8d4f\u6708\u4e0e\u54c1\u5c1d\u6708\u997c\u7ed3\u5408\u5728\u4e00\u8d77\uff0c\u5bd3\u610f\u5bb6\u4eba\u56e2\u5706\u7684\u8c61\u5f81\u3002\u6bcf\u9022\u4e2d\u79cb\uff0c\u7693\u6708\u5f53\u7a7a\uff0c\u5408\u5bb6\u56e2\u5706\uff0c\u54c1\u997c\u8d4f\u6708\uff0c\u5176\u4e50\u878d\u878d\u3002<\/p>\n

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Annual Subscriptions were due 30 June<\/em><\/h2>\n

If you have not paid yet, please do so as soon as possible. Payment details are in the June newsletter.<\/p>\n

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Welcome for New Consul-General Mr Jin Zhijian<\/em><\/h2>\n

\"image001<\/a>The local Chinese associations held a very successful and happy welcome banquet recently for new Consul-General Mr Jin Zhijian, who replaces Mme Tan Xiutian, and his wife Mrs He Linyun. I was honoured to be invited to the function. Branch president Chris Goodwin was overseas at the time. Cr Jimmy Chen represented the mayor.\"image001\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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I am happy to report Mr Jin and his lovely wife are an absolute delight; very friendly and outgoing. Formalities were quickly relaxed and Mr Jin soon had everyone laughing. On behalf of the society, I warmly welcomed Mr Jin and Mrs He, and assured him of our society\u2019s strong support and cooperation. We look forward to welcoming them to be involved in our activities, and hopefully of course our 1 October China National Day banquet.<\/p>\n

Dave Adamson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Panda Wong, Photojournalist<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Another Visitor from Gansu<\/em><\/p>\n

\"20140503_123952_5\"<\/a>I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll remember when last year our Christchurch China Sister Cities committee brought Becky from Gansu to visit us for several months? Some of you had the joy of home hosting her, so will know how delightful she was. This year the committee has done it again \u2013 this time it is Lin Lijun!! Like Becky, Lijun works for the Gansu Foreign Affairs Office. She arrived in early July and will be here about four months.\u00a0 During that time she is attending the CPIT to improve her English skills, as well as time working with the Christchurch City Council Civic & International Relations team. This is part of an annual programme our Christchurch China Sister Cities committee operates to help improve the English of the people it deals with in the Gansu Foreign Affairs Office. This adds value to both ends of the relationship, which came about at the direct request of Rewi Alley. Lijun is a wonderful young woman, and seems to have completely fallen in love with Christchurch and her experiences here. Each of her home hosts is making sure she is exposed to as many Kiwi experiences as possible; she will certainly go home with her head spinning from new images. Those of you who were at our August branch meeting will have already met her. Welcome Lijun!!<\/p>\n

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Christchurch City Libraries Chinese eBooks<\/em><\/h2>\n

Christchurch City Libraries now has Chinese eBooks on its OverDrive service. OverDrive http:\/\/christchurchcitylibraries.com\/Databases\/Overdrive\/About\/<\/strong><\/a> is a free downloadable eBook and eAudiobook platform for library members.<\/p>\n

At the moment they only have about 50 titles available, but hope to increase this in time.<\/p>\n

They also have Chinese language print books and magazines at Fendalton Library, Papanui Library, Upper Riccarton Library and Peterborough Library.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/christchurchcitylibraries.com\/Collections\/World-Languages\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Home Hosting Opportunity<\/em><\/h2>\n

Last year our branch applied to the society\u2019s Rewi Alley Friendship and Exchange Fund (RAFE) for funding to facilitate\u00a0 \u201cAn exchange of a student or a teacher from each of Lanzhou City University and Canterbury University or the Christchurch Polytechnic for at least a semester to enhance their language studies, further study of Rewi Alley\u2019s legacy in each city and create a stronger link between the Society and Lanzhou City University\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

The RAFE Fund was set up following the very generous donation to our society in 2012 of 1 million RMB by the China Oceania Friendship Association (COFA) to commemorate the 60th<\/sup> anniversary of the founding of the society, with the aim \u201c\u2026 <\/em>to consolidate and deepen friendship between the peoples of China and New Zealand, and push forward bilateral friendly exchanges and cooperation\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The funding application was successful, and we are delighted to announce Lanzhou
City University teacher Mr Bao Zhiming will arrive here later this month. He will be in the city for 18 weeks, during which time he will attend CPIT for about 14 weeks, and will do a number of activities like visiting schools etc.<\/p>\n

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We are currently looking for branch members who would like to home host Mr Bao during his time in the city. The idea would be for it to be in segments of about four weeks, but of course that\u2019s open to negotiation. Eric and Judy Livingstone have kindly offered to host him for a start. If possible we would like it to be with Kiwi families, so that he can improve his English. Lanzhou City University advises \u201d<\/em>Mr. Bao’s English is<\/em> good, he is an English teacher, … he is a quiet person from my point of view, he is a<\/em> friendly person\u201d<\/em>. His English level seems to be pretty good, and the expectation would be for home hosts to feed and water him, show him the sights etc. \u00a0A payment of $210 per week would be made to those doing the hosting and $100 a week will be given to Mr Bao for his out of pocket expenses like bus fares etc. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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So then, if you would like to have the pleasure of hosting Mr Bao for a few weeks, which would help him improve his English, and give you and your family a great cultural experience, can you please contact me.<\/p>\n

Dave Adamson\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>dacb@clear.net.nz<\/strong><\/a> 022 1283215\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0389 137<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Food for thought<\/em><\/h2>\n

Have a look at http:\/\/www.wimp.com\/ghostcities\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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Some Interesting Points to Ponder<\/em><\/h2>\n