China 2009 - 6

13 Feb 2009 - Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanic Garden.

After visiting the museum, we were given a tour of the herbarium and some of the garden.

This is the herbarium building. It's a very modern facility with compactors for the cases.










Every herbarium has stuff to process and these look like parts of presses that need to be sorted and put away.










We signed the visitor's log. This is Jim Doyle signing in.














The collection is stored in compactor cases. To open an aisle the wheels on the case are turned.











Sean Graham and YQ examining some specimens. I annotated quite a few sheets in Orobanchaceae while we were there.
















The administration center is near the herbarium.












After that short tour of the herbarium, we were taken by cart to tour the garden. I'm not quite sure what this sculpture represents, but it was rather large.











Now, that's a huge leaf. Sean Graham is standing there for scale.















The mountains in Xishuangbanna are very beautiful - when you can see them through the haze, that is.












Musaceae - very interesting plant there in the foreground.
















Another view of the mountain and a pavillion.











Our private coach for the tour.













It seemed as if most of the gardening tasks were done by hand.












An avenue line with
palms.












This was interesting - a group of Dai people touring the garden. Our guide told us that the Dai like to dress alike when they travel as a group of friends. The guy standing on the right was filming.









We visited the bamboo collection, which was very impressive. There were 250 species growing in the part of the garden. I had no idea about how diverse this genus is until seeing this collection.









I love the colors of these stems.


















YQ is showing me the defense mechanism of this species of bamboo. . .













Spines galore.














Graffitti, Chinese style.

















And graffitti, Dai style.














There are a lot of interesting little display and shelter areas in the garden. I enjoyed seeing the water gardens.













A different angle of that water garden.













This tangle of vegetation is growing through a well.











The late afternoon sun made for some scenic views.












The cycad garden was also lovely in the late afternoon glow.











Some Dai people touring the garden.












One of the many species of butterfly that inhabit the garden. I really enjoyed the diversity of butterflies - I wish I could have photographed them all, but they never stayed in one place long enough for me to get a good picture.






I found these ants to be very interesting, too. They had hairs on their posterior segment.

China 2009 - 5

13 February 2009 - Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden.

We were given a tour of the museum as part of our program during the first day. The entrance had this living sculpture.


















A ficus tree with the stems fused into a vase form. It kind of reminds me of the sculptural project ongoing at John C. Campbell folk school.















There was a large koi pond on either side of the walkway to the entrance as well.











The reception desk is made from an interesting piece of wood. I didn't get to take a close look at it to see what it was, but it reminded me of a strangler fig skeleton.











Here's a relief map of the garden and conservation area.










The first room we visited showed a lot of botanical and zoological specimens from the region, including these very interesting Dipterocarpaceae fruits.












Winged seeds are always of interest to me. I use the textural motif of these kinds of specimens as inspiration in my wood art.










Giant legumes!













Shelf fungi also serve as inspiration for some of my artwork.












The strangler fig remains was beautiful - I think that may be what that reception desk was made from.











One area of the museum was devoted to the Dai people, the largest ethnic minority in the Xishuangbanna region. There was a reconstruction of a Dai house there, which made a good Woodcentral sightings pic.









The low table and short stools is typical of the region.













We didn't have enough time to really explore this room, but it seems as if plants are used for just about everything in the home.














Fish traps and earthenware pots.


















Nets and seins for fishing.
















A bamboo fish or crab pot?













Lunch pails made from large pieces of bamboo.











I can't remember the name of our guide, but she told us about the Dai water festival. It sounds very colorful. Aside from the splashing, our guide said that the Dai have a tradition of dallyance that I haven't seen described on the web. For three days you are allowed to sleep with whomever you want to and after the festival, everything goes on as if nothing happened. Maybe something's missing in translation?







Pu'er tea comes from this region of China.













Scales














Jugs and pots












A beautiful box














Drop spindles












A Dai loom


















One of the Dai patterns










This embroidery pattern is also typical of the Dai people.















A bark cloth suit.











The bark hat that goes with the suit.
















This case featured traditional wind instruments. The one in the middle looks almost like a pipe and chanters. It's made from a gourd with bamboo pipes.












Dai candles











Pots













A drum that looks very much like a djembe.













A xylophone















Fireworks made from bamboo sections












A very interesting instrument that reminded me of a zither.