On Saturday the 15th of September, the 5th Chinese Immersion Day, in celebration of 2018 New Zealand Chinese Language Week, was held in the assembly hall at Christchurch Boys’ High School.

More than 200 local students participated in the event. In the opening ceremony, the Headmaster of Christchurch Boys' High School Nic Hill gave a welcome speech. The Chinese Deputy Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Christchurch, Gong Chunsen and Christchurch City Councillor Anne Galloway, attended the event and delivered speeches respectively.

Gong Chunsen said that with the continuous economic and cultural exchanges between China and New Zealand, Kiwi children have got increasing opportunities for learning Chinese and experiencing Chinese culture. At present, over 15,000 students in the South Island of New Zealand are learning Chinese.

"Chinese is an ancient language and still in use. Learning Chinese will open a new window for you. This window will help you understand Chinese philosophy and Chinese culture."

Anne Galloway expressed the great appreciation to the Confucius Institute, NZ Chinese Language Teachers’ Association Canterbury and Christchurch Boys' High for their thorough preparation for the Chinese Immersion Day.

“In a multicultural country like New Zealand, learning a foreign language has become greatly important.”

She also encouraged students who have already started learning Chinese to continue to challenge themselves and learn Chinese well.

After the speeches, the audience enjoyed various performances such as a lion dance, singing and dancing by Christchurch Boys' High School, St.Teresa School, Lincoln High School, and St. Margaret's College.

After the performances, the Chinese language teachers and MLAs from CIUC showcased a variety of cultural activities and games, including a Chinese tea ceremony, making a Chinese knot, Chinese paper-cutting, calligraphy, plate painting and fun Chinese language games.

Matthew and Hamish, two boys from Mt. Pleasant Primary School, said “Chinese culture is so cool! We have done paper-cutting, plate painting and Chinese knots! What an exciting weekend!”

Penny Ground, who took two daughters to the event, said:

"My four children are learning Chinese. Two sons have participated in the Chinese culture camp last year. I always encourage those two girls to learn Chinese as well. Participating in today’s event has helped them to experience the cultures and build up confidence in their learning of Chinese."

This Chinese Immersion Day is an important event for the NZ Chinese Language Week, which has been organised for the past five years and brought a rich cultural experience to the community and schools for celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese Language Week.

This week is the Chinese Language Week, so all the boys in Chinese classes are having some fun cultural activities, such as study the mid-autumn festival, design and eat mooncakes, learn Chinese plum blossom plate painting, design Beijing opera masks, Chinese movie study etc to celebrate the Chinese Language Week.