In August this year Scott Hay and myself were selected to travel to Gansu Province, China, as Ambassadors for Christchurch City. We left Christchurch at the beginning of September and will be back in Christchurch around Christmas time. We have had an amazing experience thus far and we are both very grateful for the warm hospitality the people of Lanzhou have shown us. We attend classes at Lanzhou University and have visited many sites of cultural and historical interest around Gansu Province. Our Mandarin has definitely improved, but we have a wee way to go! In addition to our own classes I have been voluntarily teaching English at two local schools and have established an art exchange with a local Primary School in Christchurch. We have found a new appreciation for Beef Noodles (a local specialty) and I would definitely recommend Gansu as a place to visit to anyone thinking about traveling to China. If you would like to find out more about what we have been doing here, as well as see some pictures of Gansu, please check out the blog at http://gansu-christchurch.blogspot.com/
See you in December!
Marcia and Scott.
Two local young people, Scott Hay and Marcia Jones, have now been chosen to spend four months this year in Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu, from early September to late December as part of an annual training programme, funded by the Gansu provincial government.
During their time there they will attend university, learning Mandarin and being immersed in the culture and history of China, spend time in the Gansu Provincial Foreign Affairs Office, and visit various sites of cultural and historical interest in the Province.
They will have the opportunity to learn basic Mandarin, be introduced to amazing Chinese history, eat some of the best food in the world and tour sites of interest within Gansu Province. One of last year’s participants said "…it really was a once in a lifetime experience, which has given me a much deeper and broader knowledge of China and its people".
Scott intends putting together a blog, which he will update most days. It will have a link to this website, so watch this space!
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| Trainees in Gansu 2006 |
Applications are now sought from Christchurch residents for this year's Gansu International Sister City Exchange Programme.
In 2006, in order to further develop and promote exchanges, understanding and co-operation in various fields between Gansu Province and Christchurch City, the Gansu Provincial Government launched this programme, to become an annual project. Gansu Province has 33 sister city relationships.
The programme involves two local people, 45 years of age and under and fluent in either English or Mandarin, being chosen to spend the period 1 September to 20 December 2007 in Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu Province. They will attend university, learn Mandarin, be immersed in the culture and history of China, spend time in the Gansu Provincial Foreign Affairs Office, and visit various sites of cultural and historical interest in the Province. Read more ... [PDF 16KB]
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| Bill Studholme, Chairman, Christchurch-Gansu Friendly Relations Committee presents a photographic book of Canterbury to Mr Su Rong, recently appointed Chairman of the Gansu Provincial People’s Congress. |
Mayor Garry Moore led a 47 strong education and business delegation to Wuhan, in Hubei Province on 9 June. From there the Mayor, Mayoress, Chair of the Christchurch-Gansu Friendly Relations Committee, with three other officials will travel on to Gansu Province on 20 June to celebrate the 20 th anniversary of the relationship and investigate business opportunities, specifically regarding the Gansu Trade Fair which will be held in August.
This follows the recent visit of Mr Su Rong, recently appointed Chairman of the Gansu Provincial People's Congress to Christchurch on 4 and 5 June, as head of a six member delegation. As the party chairman for the province, he is the most senior official in Gansu Province, which has a population of 26m.
On Friday 4 June he had a courtesy visit with Mayor Garry Moore, visited the Christchurch Art Gallery and the Canterbury Museum, followed by a welcome banquet in the evening. On the Saturday morning he had a meeting with members of the Christchurch-Gansu Friendly Relations committee, during which time business opportunities were discussed.
2002
Artworks by school pupils from Gansu Province, China, were displayed at the Centre of Contemporary Art (COCA in September and October 2001. The exhibition involved 100 paintings by Chinese pupils with the theme "Who Am I". 100 painting were also contributed by Year 7 and 8 pupils from the following Canterbury schools:
The Chairman of the Christchurch-Gansu Friendly Relations Committee, Professor Bill Willmott, said there were many similarities between the paintings, despite the geographical differences. "Many of the paintings used similar ways of illustrating the theme, such as self portraits, drawings of houses, school and scenes from the local environment."
To view a selection of the Gansu children's artworks visit the GlobalNet website.
Once the exhibition finished in Christchurch the paintings were sent to Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province. The exhibition in Lanzhou's museum of the Northwest Normal University opened on 22 May 2002 and gained the interest of the media. It proved very popular, with a continuous stream of visitors, resulting in the exhibition being extended for a few more days. Each Canterbury student received a certificate signed by the President of Lanzhou Foreign Affairs and China New Zealand Friendship Society and the headmaster of the No.2 Middle School attached to the Northwest Normal University.
View a selection of photos of the exhibition opening in Lanzhou, Gansu
2000
From 1 June to 23 July 2000 Gansu primary school children's artworks were displayed at the Centre of Contemporary Art. The display contained 100 artworks from primary schools in Gansu, and the same number from Christchurch primary schools. Artworks were based on the children's concepts of what they imagine their environment and activities taking place in it will be like in the year 2100.
A very imposing gateway, approx. 8m wide and 6m high has been designed for the Gansu Garden and will be constructed later this year. Some amazing authentic decorative roof tiles have already arrived from Gansu for the gateway.