In the afternoon of 6th July 2025, the winter sun shone brightly in Auckland, the arch stood in front of the scenic Mt Albert War Memorial Hall, flags were flying, and people were clustered here, waiting for the opening of the event.
At 2pm, Mr Liu Zheng, the founder of Daren, gave the opening speech, introducing the theme, features and main purpose of the event. Mr Liu Zheng said: “There is more than just conversation. We also have each and every one of you—respectable and lovely people—and we have scenery as beautiful as a painting. We as human beings, the things we do, and everything around us—we call all of these collectively as the Rentang of the People. Rentang means the Hall of Great Benevolence. Ultimately, the Rentang of the People will bring about The Human World of The People. Conversation is the core form of the Rentang of the People—it is an essential way for us to connect with each other. ” The Daren volunteers and Daren supporters on site gave a round of warm applause.
After the opening ceremony, everyone entered and took their seats in an orderly fashion. The venue as a whole was a warm orange-red tone, festive and cosy, the sunlight sprinkled down all over the venue through the skylight, illuminating the theme signs on the table, including Daren culture, art, knowledge of life, life and leisure, faith, current affairs and so on, nearly 30 categories, showing everyone the thematic direction of the conversation.
Inside and outside the venue are placed drinks and snacks for self-service, children running in and out, full of lively atmosphere; everyone sat around the theme table of their interest to talk, with constant laughter and a warm atmosphere; people of different languages, cultural backgrounds and beliefs could sit together and chat. A guest said with emotion: “We have always hoped to express our humanity and thoughts more freely and truthfully. Today’s Daren Conversation gave me hope.”
In the second half of the event, there was also a sharing session and award ceremony. Two sharers seemed to feel that words were not enough to express their feelings, and they sang, which received laughter and applause. The Daren Conversation souvenirs displayed on the podium are encouragement for everyone’s conversations, the “Human Quotient Award” encourages abundant humanity, the “Theme Award” encourages good organization of topic conversations, and the “Achievement Award” encourages conversations to solve some practical problems. Every Daren volunteer and Daren supporter on the scene also received the “Daren Conversation” souvenirs.
The two and a half hours of large-scale conversation passed by in a flash. Daren Life Society has recently launched activities such as dancing, calligraphy and painting, Daren Academy and book clubs, all of which are free of charge for public welfare, and you are welcome to make an appointment to join them. This large-scale activity is just another wonderful beginning, and more categories and greater scale of Daren activities will continue to be launched, so please stay tuned.