Turning stone into jade

The story of New Zealand's oldest national Chinese community organisation, the New Zealand Chinese Association. In its early incarnations, the association offered kinship and a united voice for an often marginalised and fragile minority. This history recounts the evolution of the Chinese into a community with a sense of place in the diverse population of present-day New Zealand. It tells how a community founded by sojourners and migrants, adapts to a new and sometimes hostile homeland, far from the place of their ancestors' birth. The book is structured into three main sections: - The historical narrative about the association -- the work it has performed and its own struggles to maintain a relevant identity as political change ebbed and flowed in both Asia and New Zealand - The events and community involvement of the association, whether as an initiator or as a contributor, including coverage of the branches around the country that form the membership of the NZCA - The names of people involved in the association, from the official records, including the executive officers, conference delegates, organisers of the annual sports tournaments and the recipients of honorary awards.