Kim Chi Bonsai Village

(Baonghean) -Kim Chi village, Nghi An commune, consists of 152 households, of which 133 households are engaged in ornamental plant growing, accounting for 87.5%. Recognizing the high economic efficiency of ornamental plant growing, in recent years, the People's Committee of the commune has had many policies to support and encourage people to develop the ornamental plant growing profession, bringing high income to local people.

In 2009, the income from the bonsai craft village reached over 3.6 billion VND, in 2010 it was approximately 4 billion VND, the average income of workers in the profession reached 24 million VND/person/year. The bonsai craft does not cause environmental pollution but also creates a green, clean, beautiful village landscape, contributing to improving the living environment.

Visiting Kim Chi bonsai village (Nghi An commune, Vinh city), in every household you will see a small table and chairs placed in the front yard, where there is always a pot of hot green tea for the craftsmen in the village to sip and discuss which plants to grow that are suitable for the current market trends.

Visiting Mr. Hoang Van Khan's bonsai garden, I was "full" of all kinds of trees from newly grafted branches to old trees with unique root systems. Mr. Khan said: the more strange and old the tree is, the higher the price. Bonsai enthusiasts always like strange trees, like my family's old guava tree with roots like a snake, people offered to pay more than 100 million VND, but I still did not sell it. However, trees with beautiful shapes and forms are often favored by everyone. Bonsai trees do not have a specific price, depending on the buyer's inspiration, it is normal for today to have this price and tomorrow to have another price.

Having been in the bonsai profession for nearly 30 years, there are trees that he has taken the trouble to care for, shape, and wait for 30 years to sell. The banyan and Indian laurel trees that he has only shaped now, perhaps his descendants will have a satisfactory tree that is accepted by the market. If he did not have a passion for the profession and bonsai, Mr. Khan would not be able to do so. From nurturing the tree, grafting branches, shaping, and shaping the tree, he does everything by himself. Mr. Khan shared: today I can shape this tree, but at night I lie down and think that I am not satisfied, so I turn on the light and go fix it. Whenever I am inspired to work, regardless of day or night, I have to complete the idea before I stop working.

He is fascinated by trees and finds joy in each shape of bonsai. If he has to go away from the garden for a few days, he feels restless and cannot sit still. Mr. Khan's family bonsai garden has an area of ​​3,000 m²with a total value of billions of dong, all kinds of trees from 10 thousand dong to trees worth hundreds of millions of dong, meeting the diverse needs of customers. The season for selling ornamental flowers and plants usually starts from the 9th lunar month every year and lasts until April of the following year. In addition to ornamental plants, his family also grows 10 thousand flowers of all kinds to serve the Tet flower market. The income from ornamental plants is quite high, each year in addition to expenses, the family also saves more than 100 million dong/year.

Visiting the garden of Mr. Dang Minh Ngan's family, there are also many different types of ornamental plants. In addition to the plants grown in the garden, there are thousands of square meters planted in the fields. Mr. Ngan is over 60 years old this year, but has 40 years of experience in making ornamental plants. In previous years, his family often made affordable ornamental plants for villagers to sell everywhere, the strongest consumer market was still Vinh City. In the past 10 years, the economy has developed, life has improved, and people who play with plants tend to hunt for old, beautiful ornamental plants such as ancient banyan trees and la han pines. If they have beautiful, "strange" roots, they are even more expensive. Mr. Ngan said: more than a month ago, his family sold a 28-year-old tam da bonsai tree for 140 million VND to a villager. Now that bonsai tree has been paid more than 200 million VND by a customer. Currently, there are 2 beautiful 18-year-old long banyan trees in the garden. With the bonsai profession, you can't be impatient. Sometimes you can't sell a single tree for two or three months, but sometimes you can sell it within 5-7 days and have billions in your hands.

Mr. Thai Van Vinh has a hobby of collecting old trees to take care of. To have a large bonsai garden with a total value of about 10 billion VND with many beautiful trees like today, Mr. Vinh had to go to all the provinces from Thua Thien - Hue to the Northern provinces to find and buy. He said: Expensive trees are usually sold to tree lovers in Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh. In Nghe An, only trees with moderate prices are consumed. Bonsai trees do not have a specific price, expensive or cheap depends on each person's "taste". There are trees that you can't "feel" when looking at them but they are expensive. The older the tree, the more "strange" it is, such as having only 1 root or 1 branch created by nature combined with its old age, the more expensive it is, and is sought after by tree lovers. Currently, this craft village is strongly consuming trees such as: sanh, mung, laurel, la han pine, and ivory pine.

Every morning, with a pot of hot green tea, the gardeners sit together, giving advice and discussing what kind of plants to plant, what kind of shape is popular in the market... and just like that, the craft village develops more and more thanks to the unity of each individual.

Quynh Lan