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Goldfish Diary
2005/3
Goldfish World - The Beijing Zhong Shan Garden
In this issue, our member reports on the goldfish exhibition in the
Beijing Zhong Shan Garden
Given
the goldfish’s ancient origins rooted deeply in China, and
its historical association with the Chinese Monarchs, it
is hardly surprising that Beijing’s Zhong Shan Garden,
located just beyond the outer walls of the Forbidden City,
is home to a beautiful public goldfish display.
Zhong Shan Garden’s
goldfish display area is nestled in a quiet corner of its
vast picturesque grounds of ancient trees and flowerbeds.
One of our members was fortunate enough to visit it in May
this year. He was doubly lucky in that the Garden was
hosting one of its goldfish exhibitions at the time.
According to
the Garden’s goldfish curator, numerous goldfish exhibitions
are held throughout the year. The exhibitions present an
opportunity for goldfish enthusiasts to learn and meet
like minded people. Goldfish ‘professors’ are invited to
such events, and contribute to the Garden’s efforts to
educate the public. It is encouraging that the Chinese are
taking such take such commendable efforts to preserve the
future of China’s “living heritage”.
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Goldfish
Exhibition from 8 – 14 May 05 |
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Zhong
Shan Garden’s
permanent goldfish displays are built into the walls of
several specially designated corridors. The wooden beams
that hold up the garden’s corridors are individually
hand-decorated with paintings. The numerous corridors
translate to thousands of fine paintings. A closer look at
the paintings reveals that some of them are, quite
fittingly, of goldfish.
It is
interesting to note that the goldfish on permanent display
were not the run-of-the-mill varieties but comprised of
some of the more sophisticated and very rare breeds.
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Black dragon egg fish |

Red cap dragon oranda |
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Red white lionhead |

Red cap lionhead |
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Rare cinnabar bubble eye |

Dragon eye butterfly |
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Red black lionhead |

Classical pearlscale |
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Entrance to
Zhong
Shan
Garden. |

First view of Zhong
Shan Garden’s
goldfish area |

Permanent goldfish
display area |

Painted beams |

A wooden display
tub |

Earthen display
jars |
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The displays for the goldfish
exhibition were fascinating in their own right. For these
non-permanent displays, the Garden used red earthen jars, of
approximately 1 metre in diameter, and traditional wooden
goldfish tubs, measuring approximately 3 metres in diameter.
The goldfish
on exhibition during our member’s visit comprised of
relatively mainstream breeds from the southern provinces
of China. Given its historical location at the
heart of the Chinese capital, literally between Tiananmen
Square and the Forbidden City, and the commendable
non-profit initiatives of its curators, one might regard
Zhong Shan Garden as a Mecca of sorts to the goldfish
fanatic. We definitely recommend a visit for the goldfish lover in
Beijing. |
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