The Bamboo Sea

Located in the border of Changning and Jiang’an, around 70km southeast of Yibin via Changning, the extraordinary South Sichuan Bamboo Sea (‘Shunan Zhuhai’ in Chinese Pinyin) covers an area of 120sqkm of mountain slopes at an elevation from 600 to 1000m. In its central region, more than 5000 hectares of bamboo shelters 28 ridges and peaks, with many cultural relics and historic sites screened by the feathery green tufts. There are Bamboo Sea Museum, old folk residences on Mount Xijia and fish fossils. It is a comparatively big primeval ecological bamboo forest combining mountains, rivers, karst caves, lakes and falls with artificial scenes of long history.

The slopes within the Bamboo Sea are surprisingly dark, with the tall, slender trunks reaching up 10m or more. Paths lead into the forest, an unusual walk given such a large expanse of just the one type of plant. For the best views of the ‘sea’, however, climb the hills above to a scattering of temples, from where the bowed tips of bamboo ripple in waves as breezes sweep the slopes. The best of the shrines is the Buddhist-Taoist Feiyun Dong , which contains some really grotesque Ming-dynasty sculptures.