{"id":29666,"date":"2017-03-31T16:08:46","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T03:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nzcfs.adminmouse.co.nz\/?p=29666"},"modified":"2017-03-31T16:17:24","modified_gmt":"2017-03-31T03:17:24","slug":"nelson-branch-newsletter-no-2-march-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nzchinasociety.org.nz\/nelson-branch-newsletter-no-2-march-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Nelson Branch Newsletter No. 2 – March 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

The full pdf version of this newsletter is available at: Nelson Branch Newsletter March 2017<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

~ March meeting ~<\/h2>\n

~ Chinese Calligraphy ~<\/h2>\n

Friday, 31 March, 5:30 p.m.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>Mr. Shen Ming is now the Director of Cultural Section of the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand. He will give an introduction on the basic knowledge about Chinese calligraphy by displaying how to use brush-pen and ink to write Chinese characters in a beautiful form.
\n Mr. Shen became interested in Chinese calligraphy from his young age. He began to learn it in his middle school and has been persistent to practise it for several decades. He facsimiled many great Chinese ancient calligraphers\u2019 master-works and those practices enable him to master the basic skills of calligraphy. He is the member of the China Nanjing Municipal Calligraphers\u2019 Association and many of his artworks had been displayed in the various calligraphy exhibitions in China.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Last Meeting (AGM and Banquet) \u2013<\/strong> Once again a good number of people met at Eastern Cuisine in Richmond for our Annual General Meeting and Chinese New Year Banquet. Once again it was a little later than the actual New Year date (January 28) as a result of the proximity of Nelson Anniversary weekend and then Waitangi Day. Special guests were Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese and her husband, Mr and Mrs Li from the Nelson Chinese Association, and our MLAs and Appo Hocton Scholar.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Thanks to Pam Frahm who created the place cards for the tables as she did last year. Each year they reference in some way the Chinese calendar and this year’s one is shown here.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n AGM Reports were presented by President Ferry van Mansum and Treasurer Royden Smith. The election of Officers for 2017 resulted in:<\/p>\n

President: Ferry Van Mansum
\n Vice President: Lori Brudvik Lindner
\n Past President: Christine Ward
\n Secretary: Barbara Markland
\n Treasurer: Susie Su
\n Huangshi Liaison: Barbara Markland<\/p>\n

Committee: Bruce War\"\"<\/a>d, Sally Warren, Bill Findlater, Royden Smith, Jane Lister, Jifang Black, Dyann Calverley<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our present MLAs, Xiaochen Zhu (Julie), Xin Gao (Amy), Xing Wang (Cindy) and Appo Hocton Scholar, Yuan Meng (Kristin), entertained us with song before we began the delicious banquet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Kathy Beatson \u2013<\/strong>\"\"<\/a> Although we knew Kathy was not well, it was a shock to hear at the AGM the news of her death. She had been a branch member and committee member for a number of years, and Vice-President for 2 years, until failing health forced her to resign in 2016.
\n Barbara Markland spoke on behalf of the Society at Kathy’s funeral, mentioning that she was an active member and took particular interest in the Society projects in China and the He Ming Qing Scholarship, as well as considerable involvement in organising the conference we held here in 2015. In addition, Kathy went on a number of NZCFS tours to China, and was one of the group representing Nelson at the anniversary celebrations of our sister city Huangshi.
\n We will miss her greatly.<\/p>\n

2017 Subscriptions –<\/strong> It was confirmed at the AGM that our subscriptions will remain unchanged and these are now due. Payment can be made either by cheque or cash at our next meeting, by a cheque in the mail, or via internet banking. Details are on the subscription form<\/a>. Please make sure you let us know if any of your details have changed by completing the subscription form, so that we can keep our records up to date.
\n Youth\/Student ~ $5 ; Single ~ $15 ; Couple ~ $25 ; School ~ $25 ; Corporate ~ $30<\/p>\n

Karen Ye reports on her time in New Zealand –<\/strong> At the invitation of the New Zealand China Friendship Association, Karen from CPAFFC visited New Zealand as the second recipient of the Margot Cornwell Scholarship, and finished a three-month study at University of Waikato in Hamilton, from early February to late June in 2016. Read her report at the Sister Cities web-site:
\n http:\/\/sistercities.org.nz\/?s=news#3-months-in-new-zealand-karen-ye-of-cpaffc<\/a><\/p>\n

NZCFS AGM and Conference 2017 \u2013<\/strong>\"\"<\/a> This year Conference is in Christchurch May 19 \u2013 21. The theme of the conference is Rewi Alley – \u201cThe Spirit Continues\u201d.
\n This conference is significant in that Rewi came from the Canterbury region and this year holds 3 notable anniversaries:<\/p>\n

120 years since his birth at Springfield in 1897
\n 90 years since he first landed in Shanghai
\n 30 years since his passing in Beijing<\/p>\n

Discounted early registrations close April 30 ($110), after that date it will cost $140. Of course there will also be a Conference Banquet (optional – $45).
\n Since this is being held by our nearest branch neighbour in South Island, perhaps we could make an effort to have a group attending from Nelson.
\n Further information is available on the NZCFS web-site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From Nelson Executive, March<\/strong><\/p>\n