The Canterbury Muslim Community Trust had organised a wonderful Islamic Arts exhibition in Christchurch South Library between April 2 and 9. We had also covered the story in our last issue. Below we present some out of the 53 displays in the four categories of architectural, decorative, calligraphy and textile arts.

The banner exhibition was displayed at the Christchurch City Council building depicting their life stories. It was commissioned by the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, and organised by the Foundation's Reserach Centre, and Rewi Alley Education and Cultural Centre. 

A northern hemisphere winter. Ten flights - at all times of day and night on four different carriers. One carry on backpack. Busy London. A dictator and civil unrest in West Africa. Dangerous Middle East. Within less than three weeks.

"By 1869, about 2000 Chinese men, many from Guangdong Province, were working the goldfields of Otago and the West Coast. They lived in their own settlements, some of which have been restored in places like Arrowtown. A Poll Tax was introduced in 1881 to discourage Chinese immigration. This was later rescinded along with a formal apology and the establishment of the Poll Tax Heritage Trust."

The two-day event was held at the City's Isaac Theatre Royal on January 16 and 17, and saw performances by the Wuhan Acrobatic Troupe, and Wuhan Opera and Dancing Theatre. More than 800 people attended the celebrations on the 16th including 13 mayors from various South Island councils. Minister Nicky Wagner and MPs Jian Yang and Maureen Pugh were also present. Consul General Jin Zhijian noted that the show was the first performance from China at the historic venue after the 2011 Earthquake. The event also celebrated the completion of 10 years of sister city relationship between Christchurch and Wuhan.

Delia Richards, Liaison Manager for Filipino worker's Social Integration Programme at Canterbury Migrants Centre, and also the founder and President of the community organisation Philippine Culture and Sports, and Christchurch City Councillor Jimmy Chen (on right of Delia), kicking off preparations for Pistang Pilipino 2017 sa Christchurch (PPSC), on February 4.

In this holiday issue, we encapsulate the beauty, the history, and the issues across South Island. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and we have left areas around Kaikoura for obvious reasons, but readers may find the 69 pictures - from page 4 to page 15 - an useful aid to get the gist of Te Waipounamu. Yes, this is the Maori name of New Zealand's South Island, which means "the waters of greenstone".      

The South West Baptist Church in Christchurch had an amazing Christmas Grotto this time. Your newspaper shares some of its highlights. One picture is of the Church members singing Christmas carols. 

Marking 70 years of something is no mean feat. Especially in the rapidly changing modern life with so many distractions all around. But Christchurch’s Annual Santa Parade achieved that on December 4. Though with time, the event has become more multicultural in nature, with Indian, Chinese, Nepalese and Fiji floats proving to be great crowd pullers.

Images from the pyrotechnics display at New Brighton Pier, Christchurch, held on November 5, and attended by thousands. These images are provided by Joy Kochakkan. Please check his facebook page - JK images to view more such pictures.

Organised by the Selwyn District Council (SDC) and supported by the Lincoln Rotary Club, and Christchurch Multicultural Council, CultureFest 2016 was attended by over 8,000 people on October 15

Since 2001, visitors from around the globe have been treated to the "twin-wonders" of Nelson in the form of the World of WearableArt and Classic Cars Museum. Displaying one of Australasia's largest private collections of vintage cars, visitors are also treated to over 70 World of WearableArt garments.

There was a plethora of information and ideas at the event held at Papanui High School on September 26. The Migrant Times presents a brief outline of few who were there.

This is how the Association describes itself, "The Canterbury Community Gardens Association is a networking organisation for community gardens, promoting the growth of new and existing initiatives. CCGA is a group of community gardeners and supportive individuals who are working together to promote and strengthen community garden initiatives in Christchurch."

In this photo-essay, we go to Vietnam, Lan Le-Ngoc's country till he left it in 1978. He graciously shared his life story with us for The Long Read [pg 12 & 13] for this issue.   

Yogyakarta is the hub of Javanese culture in Indonesia, which has seamlessly integrated cultural traits of Hinduism and Buddhism, with Islam. Even though, the people of Java are mainly Muslims, they are very proud of their links with other cultures and religions. On top of it, the most striking feature of the city is the omnipresence of graffiti on almost every wall around the city, presenting a very liberal face of Indonesia. To quote the Lonely Planet, "Yogyakarta is where the Javanese language is at its purest, arts at their brightest and its traditions at their most visible."

The Bishnois - India's 'original conservationist's – would be so proud of Michael Tavares spending four-days on a 500-year-old Kauri tree in Titirangi, West Auckland.

See how it changes from shades of blue to grey, to black, to even green!

Pick your horses.
Isn't it a magnificent being!

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. In this issue, we take our readers to Vietnam via few pictures.