Page 40 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2015Q1

Facing page: Top left; This rugged mountain stone has three small
This highly irregular shape of this hard siliceous stone was formed by sand-laden winds in the
western Gobi Desert. The intricate hand-carved base attempts to match the shape of the stone.
Together, they form a portal to another world. It is 12 cm wide, 12.5 cm high, 8 cm deep (4.7 x 4.9 x
3.1 inches). This is a true fengli or “wind blown” stone. Not all Gobi Desert stones are fengli stones.
This yellowish layer stone is rhyolite from the Mojave Desert. The layering nature of this stone was
created by the softer stone wearing away leaving the harder rhyolite. This stone is 14 cm wide, 12.7
cm high and 10.2 cm deep (5.5 x 5 x 4 inches).
38 | BCI | January/February/March 2015
plateaus due to the presence of hard quartz which slows the
weathering process. 26.7 cm wide, 11.4 cm high, and 11.4 cm
deep (10.5 x 4.5 x 4.5 inches).
Middle left; The multi-colored Mojave Desert rhyolite with quartz
stone forms a very rugged mountain. This stone and base is 25.4
cm wide, 12.7 cm high, and 17.8 cm deep (10 x 5 x 7 inches).
Top right; This strongly eroded, rugged, mountain-shaped stone
illustrates the effects of many years of weathering by wind and
sand. It is a combination of limestone and quartz and measures is
28 cm wide, 12.7 cm high, and 15.2 cm deep (11 x 5 x 6 inches).
Middle right; An overhanging ledge is formed on the upper part of
this highly eroded piece of rhyolite stone from the Mojave Desert.
It resembles a bluff facing the strong winds. Most rhyolite stones
are light-colored and make excellent rugged landscape scenes. It
is 38 cm wide, 12.7 cm high, and 28 cm deep (15 x 5 x 11 inches).
and northeastern Arizona. It is commonly divided
into the high desert—regions above 635 meters (2,000
feet) elevation—and the low desert—regions below
635 meters (2,000 feet) elevation. The high desert re-
gions experience freezing temperature in the winter
months while the low desert has the highest summer
temperatures measured in North America. This oc-
curs in Death Valley—the lowest elevation at nearly
90 meters (282 feet) below sea level—where summer
temperatures can reach 45° to 49° C (to 120° F).
Even though stone appreciation originated in China
long ago, rock connoisseurs began collecting stones in
regions of the Mojave Desert such as Death Valley in
the 1950s and 1960s. This part of the Mojave Desert
was a wonderful place for stone collectors for nearly 25
years up until Death Valley was made into a National
Park on October 31, 1991. Since that time, stone col-
lection is not allowed. Thus, the stones that were col-
lected prior to this date have become more prized In
contrast, it wasn’t until the mid to late 1990s that view-
ing stone collectors realized the vast wealth of suitable
stone to be found in the Gobi desert. The early Gobi
Desert collectors sought out dry lake beds, fault lines,
ancient volcanic cones, and other sites for fantastic
stones. The lake beds especially yielded a vast trove of
stones with a wonderful variety of shapes and colors.
The popularity of Gobi Desert stones spread rapidly
throughout China and soon the rush was on for Gobi
stones. Large market places developed in Urumuqi
(western Gobi) and in Alashan and Yinchuan in the
south-central and southeastern Gobi. Gobi stones
have become some of the most sought after stones in
the vast Chinese stone appreciation circles, and as a
result, some of the most expensive viewing stones in
China today.
The two widely separated geographically desert re-
gions share some of the environmental factors that
helped form the fascinating stones collectors seek.
They both occur in geologically active regions that
have undergone dramatic changes. Some parts of
these regions were once vast shallow seas but now are
arid. They are situated where former volcanic activ-
ity and earthquakes have helped shape the current
topography. They both experience a wide range in