Visitors writing their Chinese names with Chinese calligraphy characters.
Last weekend, the Auckland Botanic Gardens celebrated spring with a two-day event highlighting traditional Chinese culture. The event “Celebrating Spring” included a variety of activities including an art exhibit, qi-gong exercise demonstrations, musical performances and various other activities.
The event was a collaboration between the Auckland council and Falun Dafa practitioners, presenting traditional Chinese culture with an essence of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance.
A group performing the Chinese dragon dance by the visitor’s centre.Visitors learning to fold petals of lotus flowers with origami paper.Visitors writing their Chinese names with Chinese calligraphy characters.Chinese calligraphy originated from the Shang dynasty, using rice paper with inksticks.Visitors learning the Falun Dafa qigong (meditation) exercisesThe culture of drinking tea dates back to the Han Dynasty (202 B.C. – A.D. 220), especially among scholars in China. At the imperial court, emperors would serve tea to scholars as a sign of strong appreciation. The ritual of tea drinking later spread among the Chinese people during the Tang Dynasty.
Visitors enjoying a cup of hot Chinese tea at the Chinese tea ceremony.Visitors enjoying a cup of dandelion herbal tea, known to enhance the circulation within the traditional Chinese medicine community.The waist drum is part of traditional Chinese folklore, which originated in China over 1000 years ago, commonly accompanied with rhythmic drumbeats and dynamic songs or music. In ancient China, it was believed that waist drums were originally used by immortals in heaven to dispel evil spirits.‘Celestial maidens’ displaying traditional Chinese clothing from the Han dynasty.Visitors enjoying a family day out with kids learning origami and paper cutting.
