Abstract
By analysing the private collection of Chinese arts assembled by Hawke’s Bay farmer H.W. Youren, this article provides new perspectives on Chinese Cold War soft diplomacy in provincial New Zealand. An examination of Youren’s art collection, his private and public writing, as well as exhibitions, reveals the importance of non-state actors in promoting soft diplomacy in 1950s-70s New Zealand. Our article also highlights the central role of Rewi Alley in encouraging and developing Youren’s collection, and the extent to which Youren projected onto the Chinese art he purchased and exhibited his own values of peace and perception of an unchanging Chinese civilisation.