PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE By I. Chi Su President, Bonsai Clubs International Fall is rolling around. As I sit in front of my arced wooden study table, the maple tree outside of my round window sends in the message for autumn’s presence. The fishpond circled by perfectly shaped stones flashes under my eyes while the flowing waterfall taps on the clear water to make rhythmic music. The Golden, Red and White, Tancho, and Showa koi swim leisurely in the waves as does my heart. Ever since 46 years ago when the Bonsai Clubs International was founded in the States, it has now been extended to Europe, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Asia. Undeniably, BCI has become an internationalized association with members from all over the world. Such association, when facing fundamental changes, should have a visionary attitude and utilize advanced technology for information to promote bonsai and stone art as a new trend with no boundaries. For the last 2 months, the BCI directors kept a rigorous discussion on the online forum about the future orientation of BCI. The future for BCI will be an organized, internationalized, and communicative one. In 2010, BCI will host the annual exhibition in Tianjin, China, the third largest city in China. The 2006 BCI annual exhibition took place in Guangdong, and will take place in Tianjin in 2010 and Yangzhou in 2013. We have a thought-out plan to establish an interactive platform in China for BCI to blossom in the field of cultural arts. We scheduled a 14-day tour of bonsai and stone art appreciation with focus on the 2010 BCI annual exhibition in Tianjin. This is to allow our fellows to personally experience the beauty of Chinese culture – the bonsai, stones, art, landscape, and the passion of local people. Thus, my wife and I personally traveled to China from September 19 to October 1 to plan out the itinerary for the BCI 2010 in China. We had gathered useful information for every spot we stopped at, from hotels, sites, to details of guest-welcoming for exhibitions. Extra activities we’re both very excited about is the Rain Flower Pebble Stone exhibition in Nanjing, and the Yixing Pot Exhibition will feature a live pot-making process with Yixing pot artists. Guiding a tour is difficult, but I still wish for a perfect and special experience of “BCI 2010 in China”. This will be one everlasting memory! (The outline for tour activities is listed as follow, please refer to the BCI magazine for more detailed information.) Activity Outline: 2010 9/29 Guests from all countries assemble in Guangzhou 9/30 Participate in the Bonsai and Stone Art Exhibition organized by Chencun World of Flowers and Guangdong Bonsai Association, which bonsai artists of Lingnan Style demonstrates live Bonsai creation in the afternoon. 10/2 Participate Nanjing Bonsai Association Exhibition and Rain Flower Pebble Stone Association Exhibition. 10/4 Yixing Pot Exhibition in Yixing, a live pot-making process with Yixing pot artists will be arranged. 10/5 BCI 2013 Pre-Exhibition in Yangzhou, visit Yangzhou Bonsai Museum to study the bonsai technique of Yangzhou Style. 10/7 Exhibition in Beijing Xingwei Stone Cultural Arts Center 10/10 BCI Annual Exhibition in Tianjin, as well as the general meeting, ambassador meeting, and board meeting. “Suiseki Collections in Taiwan” was put together by 200 BCI members in Taiwan; each of them provided an exclusive collection of their own. The content covers the BCI members’ personal stone collection, introduction on Taiwanese stones, and famous site-seeing spots in Taiwan. Traveling around Taiwan won’t be hard anymore if you own a copy. However, this is only one work to lure out many more exciting stone collections. It doesn’t matter where you are, as long as you are a BCI member, you’re more than welcome to organize your personal favorites to share with the many others all over the world. I. Chi Su, BCI President BCI is recognized as a 501.c.3 non-profit organization by the IRS. This means that donations above membership dues are likely to be deductible for USA taxpayer donors. This President's Message appears in the 4th Quarterly 2009 issue of BONSAI MAGAZINE & STONE APPRECIATION, the official publication of Bonsai Clubs International.  Email to: BCI Web Master  Email to: BCI Business Office