The 2025 BCI (Fengyan, China) Stone Appreciation Exhibition and 3rd Anhui Province Fine Penjing Invitational Exhibition was held on April 24-25, 2025 in Fengyan, China.
My three-hour demonstration on Saturday morning after the opening ceremonies was a bit different than the ones I’ve done previously. The size was huge, as are most of the bonsai and stones in China. One reason is because China does not have the cultural history of stones and bonsai being displayed indoors. So, in order not to be overlooked when viewing outdoors in large gardens, they must be large.
I was taken to large nursery where they had at least 50 big specimens of Asian apples with trunk diameters of four to six inches. They were grown from cutting and spent the four years building a trunk and basic structural branching. Then the trees were potted and trained for another four years. They were initially drastic pruned many years ago to develop a multitude of small flexible branches.
When selecting plant material for a bonsai demonstration for styling it is important the finished tree looks good. I have learned the hard way of demonstrating around the world not to use deciduous species. Evergreen trees are much easier because faults and ugly branches can be usually hidden with foliage, while it is difficult to cover up faults when using deciduous species
when all the branches are ……..exposed.
The tree I selected was large, heavy and four strong men were needed to move it, especially when not on a turntable. I decided not to defoliate the tree first, as a skeleton tree is not my goal. Many leaves remained on the tree, especially the crown. But, many were removed to allow the apples to ripen in the sunshine. Two skilled assistants helped me shape the tree. First, we removed the large and crossing branching then I started one wire used to shape two branches. The wire size and direction was established. As we progressed, my assistants caught on my methods of working and they were allowed to wire after trimming. After finishing up we removed. Many of the larger leaves, especially those hanging down. Finally, we concluded the demonstration and were pleased and proud of our work.
2025 BCI (Fengyan, China) Stone Appreciation Exhibition
There were over 600 stones in the large exhibition held indoors. The basic lighting was not ideal, however small spotlights were focused on each stone. I personally felt I was in an art gallery and also a zoo. Most of the stones were remarkable suggesting animals. Some appeared as people were dancing. A lot of the stones were Lingbi stones which are found nearby. Smaller stones were displayed behind glass. I don’t remember seeing any stones displayed in water basins. All had hand-carved daiza, some ornately shaped to enhance the suggestion of animals. This was one of the most beautiful stone exhibitions.
Completing the exhibition, was a very large market selling stones, collected trees and containers. It was held outdoors on both sides of a long street with the vehicular traffic blocked off.
I think I need a larger box!