Very Successful Discover China Day

By Frank Neill

Ōtaki College students performing the lion dance during the school’s Discover China Day.

Around 120 Ōtaki College students took part in the school’s Discover China Day on 21

September.

Discover China Day was held during Chinese Language Week, an annual event designed to

increase Chinese language learning and promote Chinese culture in New Zealand.

Chinese Language week ran from 17 to 23 September.

Ōtaki College’s Discover China Day “was a very successful day,” the leader of the school’s

Mandarin programme, Destine Haeata Kuku, told the Ōtaki Mail.

Mihi Tanga (left) and Kiara Bevan working on their painting and calligraphy during Ōtaki College’s Discover China Day.

Students in the college’s year 7 and 8 classes took part in five Chinese cultural events during

the day.

Two of the events were dances, where the students had the opportunity to try their hand at the fan dance, and to dress in Chinese lion costumes for the lion dance.

Ya Zhang visited the school to introduce the students to the fan dance, while Winsome

Lim led the lion dance programme.

Fenxiao Meng not only gave a talk on martial arts, but also led the students in some martial

arts action.

Zoe Li played the erhu – a traditional Chinese sting instrument sometimes known as the

“chinese violin”, which dats back to the Tang dynasty more than 1,000 years ago.

As well as learning about the erhu, the students had the opportunity to play this instrument.

Alice Xin Huang introduced the students to Chinese calligraphy and painting.

The college’s Discover China Day was significantly enhanced with the involvement of the

Confucius Institute – an organisation dedicated to promoting Chinese language teaching and

to fostering international cultural and intellectual exchange.

It is particularly appropriate that Chinese Language Week is celebrated in Ōtaki, given the

long association of Chinese people with the town.

That goes back to before the turn of the 20th Century, when a number of Cantonese speaking Chinese arrived in Ōtaki, primarily from the Otago goldfields and from Wellington.

They leased land, as they were not permitted to own it, and they began market gardening for

the Wellington markets.

By 1910, there were numerous market gardens operated by Chinese.

By 1988 Chinese families resident in this area for at least two generations include some very

well-known names: the Moys, Hings, Chongs, Chungs, Wings, Youngs, Gows, Yungs,

Wongs, Sues and Yees.

Some of the town’s street names reflect this Chinese heritage.

This includes Jean Hing Place. When Jean Hing and her older son Brian unveiled the street

sign on 22 August 2007, they were unveiling the first bilingual street sign in New Zealand.

Jean Hing was the daughter of Jack and Sum Lai Hing, who came to New Zealand where

they had nine children, who grew up bilingual and helped their parents in the family market

garden and greengrocery.