Welcome to our second newsletter for the year. We want to share the exciting things that have happened recently and what we have coming up! Enjoy the read!
Dragon Boat Festival
Duānwǔ Jié or Dragon Boat Festival refers to “Double Fifth Festival”. In the Lunar calendar, it falls on the fifth day of the fifth month. In 2026, Dragon Boat Festival fell on the 19th of June.
Across all our classes, we spent two weeks exploring the festival and the customs that come with it. Many students were introduced to zòngzi (sticky rice dumplings) for the first time, and we had plenty of fun activities, from wordsearches, guessing the ingredients inside a zòngzi and watching videos on how they’re made.
Our biggest activity took place in our children’s group classes. For Kohia Terrace School, this was our third year running the Dragon Boat competition, while for Churchill Park School, it was their very first.
Students took home paper boat trays and were encouraged to transform them into their own Dragon Boat creations. The next week, they brought them back with fully decorated boats. Some had full dioramas, real rice, glitter, moveable paddles – the creativity was incredible.
We announced the winners of the competition together with our students and families. We were all amazed with everyone’s innovation and creativity. The Pistachio team are extremely proud of the students, and also want to extend a big thank you to the families who supported them.
We were also fortunate to have guest speaker Shane Liu, founder of Sumthin Dumplin and one of our Pistachio parents, join us. Shane shared his story, from how challenging learning Mandarin was for him in New Zealand, and how it contrasted with his daughter’s experience at Pistachio. He spoke about the value of learning Mandarin and how much it means to see his daughter genuinely enjoying coming to class.
His message captured exactly what we aim for at Pistachio. Practical, enjoyable language learning in an environment students look forward to each week.
Yatchun heads to Parliament
Last week, Yatchun headed to Wellington for the opening ceremony of New Zealand Chinese Language Week (NZCLW) at Parliament. It was a privilege to be invited to a national event highlighting the importance of Chinese language learning.
She met Jo Coughlan, the Chair of the NZCLW, MP Nancy Lu, and Mark Mitchell, the Minister of Ethnic Communities.
Coming soon: our Cultural Connection Open Day
We’re excited to announce that we’re planning a Cultural Connection Open Day on Sunday 13th September.
This event aims to foster cultural understanding and connection across Auckland’s diverse families and learners, and highlight our work in teaching non-Mandarin speakers. It will be a great chance to showcase who Pistachio is and what we do.
The Open Day will have student performances, a lion dance, and a range of interactive activities. We would love for you and your families to join in the celebration. It’s still early days and we will be sharing more details with you soon, so please keep an eye out.
Pistachio Google Reviews
Google Reviews are an important way for Pistachio to display our strengths and what we do best to the public. We want to thank everyone who has contributed to a review – your support is greatly appreciated. We’d like to highlight two recent reviews; one from an adult student and the other from one of our parents.
“I am currently enrolled in Mandarin online classes for adults at Pistachio Mandarin Language Centre […] I really appreciate their focus on cultural meanings to key phrases of the language. It is very helpful and provides added purpose around the context of the sentence. I have been attending the online lessons for nearly six months and have thoroughly enjoyed not only learning the language but also the association with tutors and other students. I have travelled to China and having a few basic Mandarin sentences and phrases on hand has given me confidence to chat openly with the locals and my Chinese friends, and it has also given me an appreciation for China, the people, and its rich culture. I highly recommend Pistachio Mandarin Language Centre for learning basic Mandarin.” – Ian, Adult Student
“We have been with Pistachio Mandarin Language Centre in Auckland for over a year now. Our daughter has been taking the kids’ classes. She is thriving due to the great tuition provided by Yatchun Wong and her staff. The teaching is fun and engaging. I would highly recommend this company.” – Michael, Parent.
Full newsletter highlights are available via the link here: https://mailchi.mp/c588a7e5ebc5/whats-on-at-pistachio