CHINESE ON SUNDAYS. Christchurch

[nzbc]

CHINESE ON SUNDAYS. NATIONALIST CLUB FORMED IN CHRISTCHURCH. The first thing that an Englishman is,supposed to do when he goes anywhere is to form a club. The Chinese of Christchurch appear to haive taken a leaf out of the Englishman's book, with the .result that we now 'have a Chinese Nationalist. Club in Christchurch. This club.has a membership of 30, including Chinese residents and business men of the city, and their meeting piaee is 599 Colombo street. Its object is apparently to offset the predilection of the Chinese for a quiet game of fan tan or such gambling diversion And to provide for him a place where on Sundays he can foregather with his feilow countrymen, and discuss with them the latest political news from China, or local business conditions, etc. The" club has been' founded on constitutional lines, Mr G. Chew Lee being the president, and Mr Yee Gam, the secretary. Yesterday a representative of "Tile Press" interviewed the president, and at his invitation paid a visit to the club-room. The room is situated upstairs in a comparatively new block of buildings in Colombo street. It is large and well lighted and scrupulously clean. Thick carpets and; mats cover the floor, while on the walls are hung a large number of pictures and maps, along with signs and. notices printed in Chinese. As one ascends the stairs he is faced with a large Chinese Gign painted on blue silk. It urges members of the club to save their money and increase their businesses, in order to assist their relatives at home in China. Incidentally it is the motto of. the club. An interesting feature of the mural decorations are the pictures. These comprise largely well known English prints of the more orthodox type. One picture, in particular, stands out from the rest. It is the well-known group of British Army types, printed shortly after the conclusion of the South African War. To the New Zealander, however, the titles of the pictures are meaningless, because, without exception, they are printed in Chinese. The chairs are labelled in Chinese, the agenda paper of last Sunday's meetings written in Chinese and. in fact, all the literature in the room is Chinese. The club is, strictly speaking, a nonpolitical lone, but as most of its members come from the Quang Tung province, of which Canton is the capital, there is a general feeling of sympathy towards Dr. Sun Yat Sen, whom, practically, all the local Chinese residents look upon as a great leader. At al' events the Christchurch Chinese Nationalist Club holds no communication with the party of the same name in China. On occasion European visitors arc invited to visit tho club-room and are entertained in true Oriental fashion. The .president informed the reporter yesterday that it was his intention to secure a Union Jack and a fiag the former to be - flown on British holidays, and the on the occasion of Chinese celebrations.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18119, 8 July 1924, Page 14 paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=CHP19240708.2.121&srpos=286&e=-------100--201----0yee+lee--