In order to foster students’ understanding and love of Chinese culture, and also thanks to the fund from Asia New Zealand Foundation, a series of cultural activities were held at Logan Park High School (LPHS) and Dunedin Chinese Garden from 12 to 18 Septemper. 

The students at LPHS enjoyed a sumptuous cultural feast including calligraphy, painting, paper cutting, dumplings and Tangyuan workshops, which were well received by students, teachers, and parents.

At the Chinese Painting Workshop, the Chinese teacher explained the origin and customs of the traditional Chinese art, and demonstrated the process of painting orchids with ink, watercolor, and brush pen. Then the students started to try their own painting with the help of the teacher.

Trent, a junior student, was proud of his work and said Chinese painting is amazing.

At the Chinese paper cutting workshop, the students first drew patterns and then made Chinese characters of good wishes by cutting the patterns according to instructions. All the students were filled with delight and excitement as it was the first time for them to try Chinese paper cutting. When their own colourful and exquisite paper cutting work took shape, they were so proud that they could not let go and started posing for photos.

Not only the students but also the parents enjoyed the Chinese crash course held at the Dunedin Chinese Garden. This event also marks the first cooperation between LPHS and the Dunedin Chinese Garden. On 18 September, the Chinese teacher also went to meet with the local calligraphy artist, Master Xie and helped with the calligraphy demonstration at the garden.

At the dumpling-making workshop, about 30 students gathered together and went through the procedure step by step: chopping the stuffing, seasoning, mixing the stuffing and rolling the dumpling wrappers. With joint efforts, the white and well-stuffed dumplings were produced. The students cooked them and happily tasted the fruits of their labour, rating the dumplings as their favorite Chinese food. However, the most popular activity was the Moon Festival celebration on 16 September. Lines and lines of students queued to taste moon cake and other Chinese delicacies. Many of the students joined the queue two or three times since we had so much yummy food.

After enjoying the cultural workshops, students gathered around to share their feelings and experience.

They all said that the cultural activities helped them understand Chinese culture and arts. Some expressed their interest of learning Chinese language and culture in the future, and some said they were going to visit China with their family.

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