Hundreds of rare and precious bonsai will soon make their debut at the Shenyang Expo Garden

Sea of clouds, waterfalls, mountain rocks and rare trees drift together with the sound of the ancient melody "High Mountains and Flowing Water"……

This is not an ancient sage playing the qin amid the sea of clouds on Mount Huang; rather, it was the Bonsai Garden, known as the most unique garden in the Expo Garden, conducting a full-scale trial run yesterday.

Hundreds of rare and precious bonsai will enter the garden

Master Mu, who was adjusting the facilities in the Bonsai Garden, told reporters that the nation's top bonsai will all gather here. Visitors can not only admire traditional Chinese art bonsai here, but also enjoy scenery like the sea of clouds on Mount Huang and guqin music such as "High Mountains and Flowing Water," and can taste famous Chinese tea in the garden's indoor exhibition area. "It can be said that the Bonsai Garden is a paradise within the Expo Garden for enjoying traditional Chinese art in one place."

According to Mr. Ma, one of the project managers of the Bonsai Garden, the garden's original design came from Shanghai, and later incorporated Shenyang's local garden design style. The entire garden is the most concentrated place for fine bonsai within the International Horticultural Exposition, with a total area of about 23,000 sq m.

According to reports, most of the bonsai already transported into the Bonsai Garden come from southern China, with some from abroad. Due to the weather, these delicate bonsai will only be displayed outdoors gradually about seven or eight days after the opening of the International Horticultural Exposition. By then, more than a hundred kinds of bonsai will be distributed among the garden's four outdoor exhibition areas: "Plum," "Orchid," "Bamboo" and "Chrysanthemum."

"What we see now are not yet the most precious varieties; the highlight will only be transported to Shenyang in June," Mr. Ma said. "By then there will be hundreds of precious bonsai varieties, most of them worth over a million, all cultivated over decades or even a hundred years."

Rare trees and strange plants vie for beauty amid the mist and clouds

"The Bonsai Garden is an exhibition garden that combines movement and stillness, with a unique traditional Chinese beauty," said Master Mu, who works in the garden.

By the Ehai Spring in the garden, the reporter saw that at the top of the rocks beside the spring, clear water trickled out along a bamboo tube, fell through the rocks into the Ehai Spring, forming a curtain of waterfall, then flowed from the Ehai Spring into the small river on the other side of the Bonsai Garden. In the water there were also swimming red goldfish.

Even more remarkable was the mist and clouds spreading out from the waterfall, changing form with the wind, just like a miniature sea of clouds on Mount Huang.

Master Mu explained: "This is artificial mist, controlled by an automatic control system, which can automatically adjust the density of the mist to achieve different visual effects."

Master Mu said that in order to better interpret scenery as beautiful as a Chinese ink painting, speaker boxes shaped like strange rocks distributed throughout the garden will also play traditional Chinese music performed on guqin, erhu and other instruments, making the Bonsai Garden a park that displays traditional Chinese culture in three dimensions.

Sip tea amid the scenery, walk on the water

To let visitors feel as if they are among wild natural scenery, the designers also built a suspension bridge beside the Ehai Spring. Visitors walking on it can feel the little bridge swaying. "This kind of bridge is more natural, and it also lets visitors feel as if they are swaying in the mist and clouds," Master Mu explained.

Another bridge is paved with transparent glass; walking on it feels as if one is walking on the water's surface.

Besides beautiful scenery, there is also fine tea. In the central area of the Bonsai Garden stands a dark green duplex building, mainly constructed with transparent glass. According to staff, the precious bonsai entering the garden in June will be exhibited here, and this is also a teahouse where visitors can sip tea, admire bonsai, and view the outdoor scenery through the glass windows all at once.

In recent days, Shenyang's temperatures have been relatively low, and staff have already wrapped dozens of bonsai in the Bonsai Garden with plastic film or blankets as "cotton-padded clothes." Under the careful care of the staff, these delicate bonsai are lush and green, waiting to show their most beautiful side at the International Horticultural Exposition.

Gathering top bonsai: hundreds of rare and precious bonsai will enter the Expo Garden