I was just in Taiwan this summer with my family, we had a great time, but unfortunately we didn't visit any nurseries. Those trees look amazing. Practically everything thrives in Taiwan, they have like 90% humidity year round and is almost never lower to 45F even in the winters.
My grandpa was a horticulturist in for the Taiwan Sugar Company in the 50s and 60s and he has stories about how everything just shot up in the rich volcanic soil. He told me that the ficuses that they used to collect for bonsai back then were from roof tops. The wind would blow volcanic dust onto rooftops which would receive fig seeds from birds droppings. Great dwarved trees would grow in the daily rains making for great trees.
We went to Tiruge National Park and other parks and the landscapes were so beautiful. Growing bonsai is so easy in Taiwan because you just look out the window and are inspired by the beautiful mountains or river valleys.
Oh yeah from the article...
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The trees in his nursery -- mostly large bonsai that are 40 to 50 years old -- cost from NT$150,000 to NT$3,000,000.
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The exchange rate is about NT$30-35:$1 so that means master yen has trees for 5 to 100 thousand dollars. In Taiwan this is a lot, as NT$50 (around a dollar fifty) will pay for a good meal from a street vendor.