From the MTG: Celebrating the Chinese New Year

Chinese glazed pottery depicting a lion in a crouched position [78/104/2]. Photo / Supplied

If you are gifted an ornate red packet, sometimes embellished with shiny golds and inscribed with the characters pinyin: Xīn Nián Kuài Lè), you must first thank the giver, take it with both hands, and be sure to not open it in front of them.

This is Hóng Bāo; a monetary gift given on special occasions, notably for Chinese New Year, and the Spring Festival that begins next week.

Gifted in accordance with several rules and customs, considerations are made to ensure the good fortune of the receiver. Crisp notes are given, avoiding coins and the unlucky number four.

While we can't induce quite the same feeling of discovering a pristine dollar note featuring Sir Apirana Ngata or Ernest Rutherford, walking through the doors of MTG Hawke's Bay Tai Ahuriri and into the carefully curated spaces is a gift in and of itself.

Items in the Hawke's Bay Museums Trust collection affords us the ability of retrospect, to whakapapa to our past, to unite diaspora with homeland.

There are such items that are steeped in the history of China, once touched by the most artistic hands of the country, and they're in a regional museum in Aotearoa, of all places.

This includes the brushwork of notable Chinese painter Qi Baishi, who transformed the static beauty of flowers into near-living, fragrant artwork, unabashed in colour and tone. Apricot blossoms sit beside camellias and chrysanthemums on our online archive, where anyone can admire Baishi's work.

Waka Kōrero Māori (waka carrying the taonga, te reo) is an exhibition that uses the collection to illustrate the 15 letters in the Māori alphabet.

Weathered by time and exhibiting several cracks in its exterior, the letter "R" is represented by a "raiona," a dark red and frill-necked pottery lion from China.

Chinese guardian lions are traditionally bronze-cast or carved from marble or granite. Stylistically in eyes, teeth and claws, they are designed to reflect the ferocity and power of the lion rather than a visual verbatim of the real-life animal.

Past exhibitions have placed emphasis on Chinese heritage and its place in modern Aotearoa, both curated by James Beattie and Richard Bullen.

2014's Visions of Peace, contextualised the HW Youren collection with soft diplomacy, and it's thanks to Youren's daughter, Dale Curham, that so many artefacts endure in the Hawke's Bay Museums Trust collection, either gifted or on loan. The accompanying publication is available in the MTG shop.

2016's Bringing China Home explored everything from Daoism to Buddhism, tracing history from dynasty to dynasty, and the circumstances under which Chinese citizens migrated to New Zealand over several centuries.

If ever there was a time to celebrate the complexity and depth of Chinese culture, the whenua of your friends, or the hard-working family business down the road, it's now — a time when Asian communities need our support.

It's nothing like pulling a crisp note from a Hóng Bāo, or enjoying a succulent Chinese meal, but give yourself the gift of visiting MTG Hawke's Bay, a special occasion that runs for 364 days of the year.

• K Williams is MTG customer services team leader.