Shanghai-style bonsai master Wang Miaoqing and his bonsai garden, Yipen Garden

  I had passed the entrance of this garden, piled with quite a few large rocks, several times before. I had assumed it was just an ordinary workshop for stone carving and landscaping plants, so I never looked into it carefully.

  Coming here again and stepping inside, I found that although the garden is not large, it has a "hidden charm all its own." All kinds of Taihu stones in various shapes are placed casually, faintly giving off an air of natural perfection. In a corner of the garden, a small Huizhou-style building outlines a touch of black and white, with horse-head walls and small grey tiles. This is where the owner receives guests who come to the garden to admire the bonsai and drink tea. Simple and plain, yet it clearly shows great care.

  This is "Yipen Garden," a place Wang Miaoqing uses to store creative materials and semi-finished works, and also where he has poured his heart into "Shanghai-style bonsai" for 30 years.

  Wang Miaoqing: standing director of the China Bonsai Artists Association, standing director of the Shanghai Bonsai and Viewing Stone Association. He is skilled at making "Shanghai-style bonsai," able to "miniaturize" natural landscapes in a pot, and also to recreate natural scenery in the form of garden rockeries. His works have won many awards, including the Special Product Award at the First Zhejiang Provincial Flower Expo and the Gold Award at the Second Taizhou Flower and Bonsai Exhibition.