Page 3 - BSAM 2015 Q1

President’s Message
January is the time that many of us living in temperate climates are preparing for the activities of the coming spring. This is a time of preparing a list of trees soon to be repotted, acquiring new tools and supplies and cleaning and preparing for the coming season. Our members in the southern Hemisphere are in mid-summer and busy pro- tecting some of their trees from the sun and heat. Other members fortunate enough to live in tropical regions of the world, blessed with year-round growing conditions with rapid growth, are keeping trees pruned to the intended shape and style. We are fortunate in the pursuit of bonsai because no matter where we live, there are trees that are adapted to those areas. Learning about each of these trees, their growth and maintenance requirements, and how they respond to the range of styling techniques, provides opportunities for us to continuing learning throughout our lives while enjoying beautiful trees.
This is also the time that we are busy planning our sched- ule of activities at the beginning of this year. We are deter- mining where we will be going to collect new trees or stones, what private collections do we want to see, and what major meetings we want to attend. Of course, this depends upon our financial resources and how much we can devote to the hobby of bonsai and stone appreciation. There is one fantastic bargain that is available to bonsai enthusiasts and stone connoisseurs this year—the BCI annual convention in Guangzhou, China. The planning committee has developed a wonderful program for bonsai hobbyists as well as for those interested in stone appreciation at a very reasonable price. This may be one of the most affordable conventions that is available to you this year.
The 2015 convention will be held at the Sun Yat-Sen Me- morial Hall and adjacent Guangdong Science Center in downtown Guangzhou. This city is known as the “Pearl of Southern China” and has been an international trade center since ancient times. It is a visitor friendly metropolitan area with easy access to major capitals around the world. Hun- dreds of outstanding trees will be on display in the large courtyard of the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. Two large vending areas are also located in this courtyard. I am in- formed that there will be an international shipping company available on site to assist you in packing and sending your purchases back home. The exhibit of stones from China and the winning photographs of bonsai and stones from our cur- rent photo contest will be displayed in the Science Center. This is also where the bonsai styling demonstrations and lectures on stone appreciation will be held. Plan to arrive on September 17th or earlier, if you want to explore Guangzhou, and participate in the opening reception that evening.
The first two days of the convention, September 18 and 19, will be devoted to bonsai styling demonstrations and illustrated lectures on stone appreciation. Demonstrations will be conducted by recognized Chinese Master penjing artists Zhao Qing Quan and Ng Shing Fat. Taiwan will be represented by Chen Jian Liang, Japan will send the talented bonsai artist Mitsuo Matsuda. François Jeker of France will demonstrate his refined techniques in deadwood styling and
The full registration cost of the BCI 2015 Convention is
only $290 if you register before March 30, 2015. This full registration fee includes all activities, two banquets, and your choice of the two field trips. It includes the hotel
cost in Yingde city for the stone tour. This is an incredible bargain. Register early and save. Go to www.gzbci.com now and plan to attend this event. See p 46 for the schedule.
John Wang, an extremely talented bonsai artist from south- ern California, will represent North America.
Stone appreciation activities at this convention will be greatly expanded from previous conventions by scheduling five lectures by leading stone experts from China, Japan, Europe and North America. Mr. Zhou Guo Xin, Chairman of the Guangdong Viewing Stone Association and Dr. Qiu Zhill, Professor of Earth Sciences at Sun Yat-Sen Univer- sity, will present illustrated lectures about Chinese viewing stones. Mr. Kunio Kobayashi, Chairman of the Nippon Su- iseki Association, will lecture on Japanese stones, while Dr. Michal Sebo will speak on stones from Europe. BCI presi- dent Tom Elias will make a presentation on North American stone appreciation.
Attendees to the convention will have two excellent two- day tours to choose from—one tree related tour to several of the largest private collections in southern China and a stone tour to Yingde, the source of the famous Ying stones. The bonsai tour will first visit the renowned Tracy Garden in Shenzhen, then travel to three other Lingnan style bonsai gardens. This will be a rare opportunity to see many of the finest examples of Lingnan style bonsai in the world. The stone related tour will be by bus to the city of Yingde North of Guangzhou. We will visit several stone shops in Yingde including the Viewing Stone Street in Zhenyang Fang Town. Participants of this tour will stay overnight in Yingde. The next day, the tour will travel a short distance to Ying Stone Park, a large display of indoor and outdoor Ying stones. Both tours will return to Guangzhou on Monday evening, Sep- tember 21 for the presentation of awards and the closing ceremony.
Tom Elias, President BCI
January/February/March 2015 | BCI | 3