Page 9 - BSAM 2016 Q4

Top left and right; Women gathering fallen chestnuts in the Old Chestnut Wood grove in Shandang Village with more than thousand Chestnut trees, many of them over a 100 years old. The trees were laden with healthy chestnuts and the locals o ered us fresh chestnuts to eat.
Middle and Bottom;
Unveiling Ceremony of the BCI Cooperation Center at Shuyang included a beautiful display of western style ower arrangement and ikebana. The highlight was the display of bonsai of all types including trees laden with fruits of all kinds.
Rugao Cooperation Centre. is was followed by the ceremonious unveiling of the BCI-Rugao Coopera- tion Center plaque by the Vice Mayor of Rugao and BCI 1st Vice President Mrs. Helen Su and Mr. I. C. Su amidst thunderous applause.
e BCI visitors were also taken on a sightseeing trip in Rugao to see the Shuihui Park, China Rugao International Horticulture Town, Guzhou Ecological park and Rugao Green Park followed by a banquet at the Business Club of Rugao Green Park.
Unveiling the BCI Cooperation Center in the city of Shuyang
Next on our schedule was a visit to the Town of Flowers at Shuyang in Jiangsu province. Dubbed “the land of owers and trees”, Shuyang county has a his- tory of more than 2,000 years in horticultural tradi- tion since Qing Dynasty and it has reclaimed this title since 1980s.
Shuyang county has 480 thousand measured unit areas under horticultural development. e prosperity of this area is clearly visible. Backed by government support the horticulture industry in Shuyang lays emphasis on greenery, water conservation methods, use of scienti c technology and marketing services. e total greenery sales volume exceeds RMB 8.5 billion nearly half of it from e-commerce. With ve large flower and bonsai markets and 53 privately owned bonsai gardens provide employment to 250,000 people.
On arrival at Shuyang, the BCI team was put up at the Huifeng Hotel. First on the agenda in Shuyang was a visit to the Gardening Center at the Interna- tional Flower and Seedling Mall where we witnessed the ‘Second Bonsai Making Games’ (see page 24) where many hugely talented penjing amateur artists
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