In a bid to become "more globalised" Patea Area School has welcomed South Taranaki's first ever Chinese teacher.
At the beginning of this year Xiwen Hu travelled from China's third most populated city to rural South Taranaki town Patea to teach Chinese as part of her studies.
Ms Hu said Patea Area School principal Nicola Ngarewa has a strong emphasis on global teaching and she wanted to give the students an opportunity to broaden their horizons.
"Many of the students have shown great interest. I think in many ways Mandarin is similar to Maori with the use of tones...many of the children who speak Maori are doing really well at pronouncing Mandarin," Ms Hu said.
Since Ms Hu arrived interest in Chinese culture has stretched to other schools in the area. She has also been working with primary schools Whenuakura and Kakaramea.