Page 21 - Tạp chí bonsai BCI Q12011

Mr. Jian Zhicai, owner of a stone shop in
Liuzhou, is credited with being the first to
introduce the beautiful Guangxi Province
Dahua stones to collectors in 1997.

The festival does that. Job creation in this relatively poor above: The sweeping lines of
region is paramount, and Liuzhou has approximately eight the new Liuzhou Fantastic
to ten thousand people now engaged in selling, collect- Stone Gallery served as the
primary venue for the 6th
ing and searching for stones. The permanent year-round Liuzhou stone festival.
stone markets creates additional jobs directly and indi-
rectly. To understand the level of government support, left: This huge, vertically
the city constructed the first major building (1500 sq me- oriented Dahua Stone makes
ters), of the Bagui Fantastic Stone Exhibition in 1994 and a striking centerpiece and a
dramatic statement. This stone
a second building (also 1,500 sq. meters) was added to the and base is over two meters
museum in 1999. One building displayed stones in a mod- high.
ern, museum-type arrangement, while the other structure
displayed them in a traditional Chinese setting. We were below: View of the spacious
impressed with this modern, large stone museum when lobby of the Liuzhou Fantastic
Stone Gallery.
we first visited it in March 2010.
Seven months later in October 2010, my wife Hiromi and I
returned to Liuzhou two days before the opening ceremo-
ny of this latest festival so we could visit the Bagui Museum
and photograph many of the stones in that collection. We
also planned to visit one or more of the four stone markets
and to meet with officials to learn more about Chinese
stone appreciation. We accomplished all this but the Bagui
Museum. Unfortunately it had closed.
The opening ceremony for the 6th Liuzhou International
Fantastic Stone Festival was a grand event complete with
dancing, music, and of course, short speeches by dignitaries.

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