90% of koi farmers are men.

Several koi in Mr. Jiang's family have won awards in China, and the market value of more than 20 koi in the whole pond is at least more than NT $1 million.

Liu Jinrong and Luo Kui have been raising carp for 10 years. When koi hatch in March every year, they will go back to Foshan Sanshui Fish Farm for a few months and stay there every day to choose fish fry. (photo courtesy of interviewees)

A beautiful koi can give men a strong sense of possessiveness, which far exceeds the thrill of walking past a supermodel.

Southern Metropolis Weekly reporter _ Hu Wenwen Photography _ Sun Jiong Hu Wenwen

"I can't say which one I like best, lest they hear it and blame me for being biased."

Liu Jinrong, the owner of Guangzhou Jinhan Wan Carp Center, went to various villas in Guangzhou whenever he was free to take a look at the koi raised by customers and send some feed.

Liu Jinrong's carp farm has been open for 10 years. Earlier, people from Taiwan and Hong Kong were the majority of koi farmers because they were deeply influenced by Japanese culture. In recent years, the number of koi players in the developed areas of Guangdong has suddenly increased.

"after koi became popular, many villa owners built fish ponds. Some players have raised a whole pond of fish and angrily changed the fish pond into a swimming pool, but can not resist the temptation of others, but also changed the project back. "

More than 90% of the customers who buy koi are men. Even if a woman plays koi very well, people will not think that she is very "fashionable". On the contrary. A successful man has a beautiful pond fish at home, which will give him a great sense of achievement.

Luo Kui said with a smile that a beautiful koi will give men a strong sense of possessiveness, which far exceeds the thrill of walking past a supermodel.

"when you see a good koi, you will feel that its every move is synchronized with your heartbeat. You can look at them for hours without aesthetic fatigue at all. "

Usually, because there is a pool of baby fish at home, no matter how busy he is outside, he will want to go home early when he is free.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, the first sentence was not to ask if the meal was ready, but "how's the fish today?"

Mr. Jiang, the owner of the villa fish interviewed, spent 5 million yuan on the construction of the fish pond alone in order to raise his fish worth millions of dollars.

"my koi has been raised for five years." for cooked fish, the owner can hold the food in his hand when feeding it, reach directly into their mouth, and then close it for fun.

The Jiang family once had a "Danding" and died in childbirth, for which the whole family was sad for several months. When Mr. Jiang was asked which one he liked best now, he looked at the pool full of colorful fish and smiled and said, "which one do you like best? I can't say, lest they hear and blame me for being biased."

What's missing is not the place, but the fish.

The history of Taiwanese Lai Chih-Yu raising koi began in university.

Lai has many hobbies: jade, sports cars, potted plants and horseback riding, and the time for raising koi will be guaranteed.

In addition to class, Lai Zhiyu works with his fish pond at home every day. On weekends, they go to different fish farms to pick small fish with people to test their own eyesight.

"when the koi swims slowly, it looks leisurely and dignified, but once it speeds up, it is full of a sense of strength."

"if koi is not studied, the more it is studied, the more expensive it is to raise it. I go to the fish farm every week. I get to know those bosses very well. I work for them when I have nothing to do, so that I can pick more good fish. "

No koi is the same, the pattern on their backs is like ink painting, very fastidious. As for the aesthetic standard of koi, countries all over the world take Japan as the benchmark, and its national koi tournament represents a world-class level, which is equivalent to China's national table tennis match, which no other country can surpass.

After arriving in Shanghai, Lai Zhiyu hasn't raised koi for a long time. Although the courtyard of the villa at home is also very large, what is missing is not space, but fish.

"there are too few koi competitions in the mainland. I haven't seen a good fish for a long time. I miss it very much. That kind of feeling is like seeing too many ugly girls and really want to see beautiful women again. "

Shanghai does not have as many fish farms as Taiwan, so you can choose the best fish in a million. Moreover, there is nothing good around him, no one who knows the goods, no matter how beautiful his fish is, he cannot share it with others, and he may be called stupid in the end.

In the final analysis, he still has a wish buried in his heart: dig an ideal pool in the Japanese-style courtyard at home, half reach into the home, raise some potted plants by the pool, and there are plenty of muddy fish in the pond. The living room close to the end of the pool sinks, with a whole glass wall, and sitting on the sofa can enjoy koi as if it were in an aquarium.

"I went home tired of work, turned on the small lights in the pool, watched those brilliant fish swimming quietly in the black water, listened to the gurgling sound of the water, and felt that my heart had been purified. You can also find the atmosphere of nature in a busy city. "

Raise koi for family heirloom

"in the business of raising koi, many of them are family businesses, especially in Japan, which have been handed down from generation to generation. Because koi will inevitably die. If they are not relatives, it is easy to have trust problems. "

The owners of Guangzhou Jinhan Wan Carp Center, Liu Jinrong and Luo Kui, are brothers (surnames after their parents). One was in real estate and the other was in the financial industry, but they both resigned ten years ago to raise koi and never wanted to change careers again.

"in the past, when I worked for people, the communication between people was very complicated. I had to socialize with people I didn't like every day, and I felt very tired. The consumer group of koi gives me a great sense of satisfaction. they are elites in all kinds of industries, industrial, catering and political. They are very happy to share their business experience with others, and we are happy to tell them the tricks of fish farming. Everyone has no interests, the relationship is very simple, very happy. "

In Japan, people who specialize in breeding koi are known as' carp masters'. Like Bole, they can find the best in a school of fish and keep cultivating them. The earlier you find a good fish when the fish are smaller, the higher the success rate of your koi. "

Just like a beauty pageant, the selected fish have to go through six preliminaries within a year, and then continue to observe and select the good fish that can be saved to the end is one in a million.

"of the 4 million fish produced each year, only 30, 000 were sold in the end. Whenever there is a competition, we will bring out the best fish that have been cultivated for several years. So the top players are waiting for the fish, choose to book in advance at that time, once the fish wins the prize, the price is huge. "

Koi can live even longer than humans. It takes years, decades or even decades of painstaking efforts to bring an excellent little fish home, and a carp master will let the fish in his hands slowly show his aesthetic taste. Therefore, some people say that brocade carp is a kind of future.