Ｎｅｗ Ｚｅａｌａｎｄ Ｒｅｖｉｓｉｔｅｄ

New Zealand， composed of two big islands at the southernmost of the Pacific Ocean， is a beautiful country with an area of 270，000 square kilometres and a population of less than 4 million. Having a vast territory， a sparse population， beautiful natural scenery and being far away from the turmoil of the world， it is reputed as a haven of peace. New Zealand is an agricultural and livestock farming country. The number of sheep and cattle it has is respectively 25 times and 3 times more than its population， so its cattle and sheep breeding and dairy industry are particularly highly developed. The country also has many kinds of fruits. The Chinese gooseberry introduced from China at the beginning of the last century after improvement has become New Zealand’s national fruit known as kiwifruit (New Zealanders call themselves Kiwis.) . Having worked at the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand and stayed in Wellington for three years， we feel an attachment for this country and her sincere and honest people. After leaving New Zealand， we always long to revisit it.

At last we got a chance. The statue of Rewi Alley sculptured by Lu Bo， a Chinese sculptor， was unveiled in North Shore， Auckland on March 25， 2006. We joined a group sent by the CPAFFC to attend the unveiling ceremony. In our group there were Lu Wanru and Yao Mingyu who once worked at the side of Rewi Alley and Nie Guangtao and Nie Guangpei， adopted sons of Rewi Alley. As they were very much familiar with Rewi Alley， we had more chances to know about him and felt more of this international friend’s greatness.

Rewi Alley was a symbol of friendship between New Zealand and China. He came to China in 1927， lived there and made great contributions to the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression， War of Liberation and cause of construction until he passed away in 1987. Madame Soong Ching Ling called him “an honest， loyal and dauntless friend of new China”. Deng Yingchao praised him “In long years of struggle， he did not fear hardships and devoted all his enthusiasm and energy to the cause of liberation of the Chinese people.” On the occasion of celebrating Rewi Alley’s 80th birthday， Deng Xiaoping said， “It is not easy for him to consistently do a great deal of work for the Chinese people at the time when we were in great difficulties， when we were doing pioneering work and after we have won victory; therefore， he naturally deserves the Chinese people’s respect.”

New Zealand established diplomatic relations with China in December 1971. But， long before that， in 1954 New Zealand friends founded New Zealand-China Friendship Society (NZCFS) and began friendship activities with China to promote understanding of the Chinese people. New Zealand people are honest， live a simple life and treat others sincerely like Chinese farmers and herdsmen. They are particularly friendly with the Chinese people. Wherever we went， we were accorded warm welcome. Our many friends in the NZCFS cherish special friendly feelings towards China. Some of the old members of the NZCFS have thrown their energies of a lifetime into the work of promoting New Zealand-China friendship， winning our admiration from the bottom of our hearts. Though they are advanced in age and feeble， even unable to take part in activities， they are still very concerned about the work of NZCFS， and prize their membership of the NZCFS. As an organization， the NZCFS has not forgotten the contributions made by these old members and made them lifetime honorary members or lifetime honorary secretaries. On March 15， 2006， the Wellington Branch of the NZCFS held its annual meeting. We happened to be in Wellington and were invited to the meeting， at which a seeing-off was given to Gwen Ryan， an old member of the NZCFS and an old friend of ours， who was to move to Tauranga in northern New Zealand and would become a member of the Tauranga Branch of the NZCFS when she settled there. Two days later， we went to North Palmerston and called on Nancy Goddard， lifetime honorary secretary of the NZCFS. She lived in an old people’s home to enjoy her remaining years. When seeing us， she was very happy. Other old people there joined our chat and we were as happy as celebrating a festival. Nancy has been to China many times and was conferred upon the title of Friendship Ambassador by the CPAFFC in 2001. She still has a good memory and is nimble in movement， and asked us to send her regards to her Chinese friends.

The first leg of our visit in New Zealand was Christchurch where Rewi Alley attended school in his early years. Because of Rewi Alley’s special relations with China， the city also has special relations with China and formed friendship ties with China’s Gansu Province. Christchurch takes pride in Rewi Alley. In the museum there are collections donated by Rewi Alley. In the boy’s school where Rewi Alley once attended a stone monument was erected in memory of him. A park in Hurunui District， 60 kilometres north of Christchurch， is named Rewi Alley Park， where a gingko tree planted by Rewi Alley when he visited the district in 1971 is growing strong and sturdy. We visited all these places and were warmly received by the local government officials and people. We specially went to Springfield where Rewi Alley was born， and visited the town’s central park where there was a relief sculpture of Rewi Alley and a photo exhibition about Rewi Alley whose life and deeds were told through microphone.

In Christchurch we visited the Rewi Alley Cultural Centre where more than ten teachers and staff under the leadership of Principal Qiangfu Jin conscientiously do a lot of work to help New Zealanders know about Chinese culture， such as publishing periodicals and teaching Chinese language. After returning home， we have received Rewi Alley Education and Culture Newsletter they sent.

On March 25， we attended the unveiling ceremony of the statue of Rewi Alley in North Shore， Auckland. The statue was sculptured by Chinese sculptor Lu Bo. Her husband Deng Bangzheng became a painter with the help of Rewi Alley. Now the couple live in Auckland. The statue is erected in the Rewi Alley Park in North Shore. Over 100 friends of the Auckland Branch of the NZCFS and local people attended the unveiling ceremony presided by mayor of North Shore. A photo exhibition about the life and work of Rewi Alley was held on the spot. The staff of the Chinese Consulate General in Auckland also attended the ceremony. We talked about the development of New Zealand-China relations in recent years， Rewi Alley’s contributions to the friendship between the New Zealand and Chinese people. An overseas Chinese traditional instruments orchestra gave performance to liven things up. On the evening of that day the Auckland Branch of the NZCFS held a reception to entertain us and a Chinese delegation that came to study education in New Zealand. Margaret Cooper， national president of the NZCFS， was also present at the reception.

H. Nyarene Masson (Chinese name Li Ming)， a member of the NZCFS at the advanced age of 81， invited us to a tea party at her home. She volunteered to teach in Shandan in 1947 and has a deep affection for China. George Hogg was the then principal of the Shandan School， and later passed away in China. At her home I saw the book I Have Seen New China written by George Hogg. The book was published by the China Society for People’s Friendship Studies the year before last as one of the Light of China Series. It’s a pity that it has not yet been translated into Chinese.

Invited by Derek Challis and his wife Ellynne， friends of Nie Guangpei， we visited them at their house in Waitakere， a forest area about 50 kilometres north of Auckland. Their house is in the forest. From outside we could not see any houses， only a small path leading there. Many New Zealanders live in the depths of the forest， but their houses are equipped with modern facilities. There was not a speck of dust on the thick carpet， and it was quiet and comfortable in their house. They really know how to enjoy life. Mr. and Mrs. Challis took us to the Waitakere Forest Park where we saw the Kauri tree which had grown there over 1，000 years. It was so thick that even 5 or 6 persons were unable to encircle it with their arms. Mr. Challis， a botanist， taught us how to tell Ponga， the New Zealand’s national tree， from Wheke， an ordinary kind of pteridophyte， for their leaves look the similar.

Having got acquainted with Mr. Challis， we came to know his friendship with China. He has written The Book of Iris， A life of Robin Hyde， giving an account of his mother’s life. His mother Iris Wilkiason (1906-1939) was a New Zealand journalist who had been to China to gather news. Her Chinese name was Wei Airui and pen name Robin Hyde. When she came to China to cover the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in the 1930s， she was unfortunately arrested in Xuzhou by the Japanese army， and later was rescued by the Chinese anti-Japanese forces. Then she went to Britain and not long after she suffered from depression and passed away in 1939. Mr. and Mrs. Challis long to visit China， particularly Xuzhou.

Our visit to NZ left some impressions on me. New Zealand attaches great importance to the protection of natural environment and never carries out development for short-term success and quick profits at the cost of environment. It would rather slow down the speed of development than destroy any plants and trees; therefore， the environment of the whole country is very beautiful with green hills and clear waters. New Zealand values all historical remains， and even tries every possible way to preserve the small buildings less than 100 years old on Rewi Alley’s farm. In New Zealand there is not much difference between city and country. Everywhere， whether it is a pasture or a factory， is clean and tidy without any pollution. People like to live in the “countryside”. Hence， the cities are not crowded. The difference between mental and physical labour also seems to have disappeared. The friends who received us are professors， experts and scholars. When working at their offices， they are well dressed. When returning home or their own pasture， they change into working clothes， sweep the courtyards， drive tractors， clear away sheep and cattle droppings and do everything by themselves， just like farmers or herdsmen. They don’t regard mental labour as something high and noble， physical labour low and humble. As to civility， in New Zealand we didn’t see any unsanitary habits such as spitting or littering anywhere， neither saw people push and squeeze nor young people hug in buses and other public places. On the whole， the general quality of the people of New Zealand is high.