ELBERTA – As part of its new Chinese language program, St. Benedict School will host a public lecture series - “Discovering China” - that will also include an authentic Chinese dinner.  

This year St. Benedict, a Catholic elementary and middle school in Elberta, received a guest-teacher from the Chinese consulate, Wang Zhenghai, 35, who will spend two-years teaching students Mandarin, the national language of China, and also the cultural heritage of his home country.  

And Zhenghai will go beyond the classroom by reaching out to the community with a series of lectures on Chinese history, geography, language and culture, among other topics, beginning this Thursday and continuing once a month thereafter until April.

His first lecture, “A Tour of China,” will provide a geographic and historical overview of China’s cities including Beijing, its national capital, and Shanghai, its largest city and financial center.  

“I want to introduce the geography of China and the main cities because many people have not been there,” Zhenghai said in a phone interview.  “The first one I will introduce is Xi’an; it’s the oldest city in China.”

Zhenghai received a Master of Arts in Chinese Ancient Literature from Shanghai Normal University in 2003, and was a middle school teacher in China for eight years.

Shanghai, he said, “is a very special city, because about 100 years ago, it was a colonial area” and it is “the only city very close to Western” tradition.  

His lecture, beginning at 7 p.m., will be preceded by an authentic Chinese dinner at 5:30 p.m., prepared by Chef Lin, owner of Chinatown Buffet.  

Mick Donovan, an event organizer, said that each lecture will include a specific Chinese cuisine that targets a region of the country, and that Thursday’s event will feature Fujian, a style familiar to the southeast coast of China.  

Chef Lin will prepare an assortment of dishes including: Chinese spring rolls, fresh white fish with broccoli, onions and mushrooms in garlic sauce, and Fujian-style sweet and sour spare ribs.  

In January and February, St. Benedict School will hold the lecture and dinner series at the Gulf Coast Culinary Institute at Faulkner State in Gulf Shores, and students will prepare the traditional cuisine for the public.  

Dinner reservations can be made by calling the school at 251-986-8143, $12 for adults and $8 for children.  Reservations and additional information can also be requested through email at RKrehling@saintbenedict.net