One of the most amazing places to be priviledged to visit whilst in China on the BCI convention was the Bonsai Garden at Panyu Chu Kong Steel Pipe Co Ltd. The scale of the garden is vast but it needs to be for the scale of bonsai on display to enable them to be set off their advantage. There are over 4,000 pots of bonsai set within 3,000 hectares and here are some of the trees that we saw.
Pines and Junipers galore of all styles and on massive but proportionate scales and we loved the Pine cascading down the metal pipe. Mr Chen Chang who is the Chairman and CEO of Panyu Chu Kong Steel Pipe Co. Ltd is a famous entrepreneur who has a passion for bonsai which he has embedded within his company’s culture. PCK is the largest manufacturer and exporter of longitudinal welded steel pipes in China and these products are widely used by petroleum and petrochemical industries for oil and gas both on and offshore pipelines.
Tree of distinction, this was great fun and shows a fantastic appreciation for humour in bonsai and was a favourite of mine in the collection. This is one thing Mr Chen Chang is renowned for in that his bonsai collection contains both conventional and unconventional styles as well as some are conservation while others are less so. He has a wealth of experience with a sharp insight into the art of bonsai and he has created some wonderful works of art. Mr Chen Chang was born in 1946 and he loves Chinese traditional art and culture and is also into Koi winning various championships world wide.
Tribute to fig fans out their, as these were some of the most impressive I have seen and they were wonderful to behold and admire up close. Many had fruits on and some of the trunks whether they were fused or naturally forming were wonderful.
One technique that was observed was the use of stone walls or bricks as temporary pots while they developed the bonsai trees and their roots and this approach allows for a layer of stones to be removed gradually to expose more roots over time, a very cleaver technique if you have the space.
Hibiscus tilliaceus, another first as large bonsai for me and this was a beautiful example with its heart shaped leaves and cascade style.
Stunning array of so many different species of trees as well as styles, shapes and sizes, we only had a few hours at the garden so it was hard to know what to focus your attention on with so many species and bonsai trees to admire.
Here was a close up of another series of techniques being used incuding wrapping the trunk to aid with bark protection and also guying the branch into position but at the same time using a spacer to create the distance required for the branch to trunk. It would have been a great demo piece to discuss if we had had more time.
The above are some general pictures from the field trip to admire the 4,000 bonsai in pots, and we continued to tour to see the bonsai nursery which is detailed in a follow up post.
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