Annual General Meeting :
7:30 pm Friday 30th March in the Epiphany Church Hall, 54 High Street (Highway 2, corner of Intermediate Street), South Masterton.
Members selected this date at the meeting held on Friday 9th February in the Hadlow School Library. Formal notice of the AGM was distributed in mid-February, calling for nominations. All positions are technically "vacant", so we will need to elect a Chairperson, a Deputy Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and committee members. In addition to the traditional Chairman's Report and Treasurer's Report, the meeting will need to set Subscriptions for the following year. There will be opportunities to hear about National Executive decisions and deliberations as well as plans for the future development of the NZ - China Friendship Society. Locally, members in Wairarapa will need to think about our involvement in the wider world-wide Friendship movement, and perhaps pledge some of our funds to development activities where they are most needed. Supper!

National Conference of NZCFS 2007 will be hosted by Nelson Branch. Friday evening 4th May until Sunday afternoon 6th May in the Nelson City Council Chambers, Nelson. Costs = $95 registration (reduced to $85 if paid by late-March = now) + $30 each for the Saturday evening Chinese Banquet to be held in Richmond (+ $6 return transportation). Secretary Donald Simpson has registration forms + accommodation information + advice about early airline bookings for the Friday and Sunday afternoons. We intend to apply for a funding grant to help cover these costs and it is important that Wairarapa Branch is represented at National Conference in Nelson. (Your Secretary is unable to attend.) Plan! China's Ambassador, His Excellency Zhang YuanYuan, will speak and present awards.

Prominent Persons & Leaders Tour, China (26 May to 5 June 2007).
Nominations are closing. Is there anyone in Wairarapa who should be nominated for this or a similar tour ? (Last chance for nominations will be at our AGM.) This tour travels via Shanghai to Beijing with 3 days of touring in Beijing viewing Olympic sites and the Great Wall.. Train overnight to Xi'an to view the terracotta warriors and horses and several local farm developments. Two days in the Chengdu area to visit the panda breeding facility and the ancient irrigation scheme, then to Shanghai to view the City Planning Exhibition and view local sights before flying home to New Zealand. Participants pay their own costs of travel to and from China + cost of Chinese Tourist Visa. Nearly all costs inside China are met by the Chinese People's Assoc. for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Youxie.

Touring in China :
The 2007 Silk Road Tour and 110th celebration of Rewi Alley's life has been fully booked (and there is a "wait list" in case cancellations occur). NZCFS runs these annual tours most successfully. Our task is to inform friends of these opportunities.

Nursing Scholarships :
One Conference Remit is "That the Kathleen Hall Scholarship cease to be and monies should be transferred to the He Ming Qing Scholarship." Mary Freeman, a Masterton nurse, was a previous recipient of the Kathleen Hall Scholarship. A new scheme provides financial support within China for a rural nurse to receive special training. The first recipient, Wei Yunjie, began her 4-year course in 2006 at the Guangxi Medical University in Nanning, not far from Guilin. The 7 000 RMB (NZ $1 500) per annum scholarship covers tuition and related costs and about 65% of boarding costs.