In South Sichuan lies one of the largest concentrations of bamboo in the world. The Shunan Bamboo Sea (蜀南竹海) covers 120 square kilometers of land and contains more than 100 tourist destinations within.

At first look, the bamboo sea is so thick that the entirety of the sea is reminiscent of a forest in a national park.

Hills covered with bamboo
The hills are smothered in the leaves of bamboo. There have also been panda sightings within the forest.

However, there are few trees in this forest. It’s just slender, towering poles of bamboo everywhere you look.

A river runs through the forest
A river runs through the forest
There are hundreds of kilometers of trails in the park.
There are hundreds of kilometers of trails in the park.
Bamboo sea gate
Even the various gates around the Bamboo sea are made of bamboo!
Riding the gondola to the top of one of the hills.
Riding the gondola to the top of one of the hills. The view along the ride offers the visitor a chance to look at the sheer scale of the forest. There is nothing but bamboo for kilometers all around. The gondola ride itself was fantastic, at times dangling hundreds of meters above the forest top.

Being a sea of bamboo, everything here is bamboo-themed. From bamboo shoes to bamboo wooden snakes, local vendors lined the streets to sell their crafts.

A cup made of bamboo
Even this cup of rice is made from the hollow shaft of the bamboo plant. That dish in the back? Cooked bamboo.
A 360-degree view from the top of the hill.
A 360-degree view from the top of the hill.
Waterfall
A misty waterfall, hundreds of meters tall. The water is crystal clear and very safe to drink.
A covered passageway built into the cliffs.
A covered passageway built into the cliffs. It’s not as dangerous as it might look, but offers the most amazing views of the sea and the mountains.

Published by Geoffrey Liu

A software engineer by trade and a classical musician at heart. Currently a software engineer at Groupon getting into iOS mobile development. Recently graduated from the University of Washington, with a degree in Computer Science and a minor in Music. Web development has been my passion for many years. I am also greatly interested in UI/UX design, teaching, cooking, biking, and collecting posters.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.