As soon as we got into the Expo site, we went for the tickets to get into 養生館 Pavilion of Regimen. For me this is a very interesting show of the best 盆景 (miniatures trees imitating much larger and older trees, or Bonsai, the Japanese term now well known in English.)
Out of the 100 or so 盆景 displays in the pavilion, about 36 were more than 100 year old!!
The collection, upkeep, and maintaining a 盆景 display is a trans-generation project, or the owner better able to find someone who can appreciate the 盆景. One of my friend told me that his dad used to have some nice ones, but none of the children were interested in keeping and taking care of the 盆景. Thus his dad had to give them away.
Anyway, this one in the courtyard is the oldest at about 550 years old!
Just imagine it began its life even before the Qing dynasty, 450 years older than the Republic of China, almost 300 years old when Queen Victoria ruled the world, about the same age as Leonardo da Vinci!!!
The 2nd phote shows details of the trunk. Old tree indeed.
