Chongqing penjing competition showcases strong municipal support for the art

The 2025 Sichuan-Chongqing Craftsman Cup Penjing Technique Competition opened on September 30 at Chongqing Garden Expo Park with officials from the Chongqing Municipal Administration Bureau, the Chongqing Garden Expo Park Management Office, the Chongqing Penjing and Flower Association, and the Sichuan Penjing Association in attendance. That lineup made the event look less like a club gathering and more like a formally backed cultural showcase, with public agencies and regional associations sharing the same stage.

All of the exhibits were installed a day earlier, on September 29, and the competition ran through October 10. The Fine Penjing Invitational Exhibition brought together 121 artworks, including 100 pieces from 23 districts and counties of Chongqing, along with local enterprises and institutions, plus 21 works from seven prefectures and cities in Sichuan Province. A jury of penjing masters from Sichuan and Chongqing sorted those entries into 12 Gold, 18 Silver, and 30 Bronze prizes, a structure that underlined how seriously the regional circuit treats display work, not just private collecting.

The Open Penjing Creation Competition sharpened that point. Thirty-three practitioners and enthusiasts entered, with 21 from Chongqing and 12 from Sichuan, and the judges awarded 3 Gold, 5 Silver, and 8 Bronze prizes. In a field where reputation is built through years of shaping trunks, managing branch structure, and presenting a convincing miniature landscape, that kind of award spread matters. It showed that the organizers were not just filling space at a park festival. They were setting a public standard for technique, with winners recognized in front of peers and officials.

The award ceremony took place on October 1 in the main square of Chongqing Garden Expo Park, where leaders personally presented certificates to the winners. That public handoff mattered as much as the medals themselves. It gave the competition the feel of a civic event, not merely an exhibition, and it put penjing squarely inside the city’s cultural calendar.

BCI described penjing as a precious gem of traditional Chinese culture, and official cultural materials in China identify it as a traditional art and craft of miniature trees in pots, also known as bonsai. Against that backdrop, the Chongqing contest read as more than a regional stop on the exhibition circuit. It showed a living craft being supported from the municipal level up, with Chongqing and Sichuan working the same stage to keep the standards visible, competitive, and current.