New Zealand Chinese Immersion Day highlights cultural show, donated books

WELLINGTON, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Immersion Day highlighted cultural show and donated Chinese books in the New Zealand city of Christchurch on Sunday.

The Chinese Consulate General in Christchurch donated children's books in Chinese and books about traditional Chinese culture to the Christchurch Library, as part of the nationwide celebration of the New Zealand Chinese Language Week, which started on Sunday.

Consul General He Ying told the donation ceremony that the annual book donation started more than five years ago, and these books have been widely received by the Chinese community and Kiwis in Christchurch.

The city libraries need diverse language books as part of a wide range of books offered, said a statement from the library, adding the donated books have been wonderful gifts for the community to enjoy.

The Chinese Immersion Day highlighted performance of traditional Chinese music, lion dance and various Chinese language and culture activities, such as calligraphy, paper cutting, Chinese knots making, Chinese painting, fan making, tea art, traditional Chinese medicine consultation, and fun language workshops and games.

The Chinese Immersion Day was jointly held by the Chinese Consulate General in Christchurch, the Confucius Institute at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch Central Library, and the New Zealand Chinese Language Teachers Association (Canterbury).

The Chinese Language Week is a Kiwi-driven initiative launched in 2014 after the Maori Language Week and the Pacific Language Week.

New Zealand has more than 260,000 people of Chinese origin. The number of primary and secondary school students in New Zealand learning Chinese was nearly 70,000 before the global pandemic, according to New Zealand's Ministry of Education.