Tucked away in a bamboo sea

[Photo by Li Yang/China Daily]

Nestled in the center of the Yangtze River Delta, where three provinces Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui border with one another, is a bamboo forest called Nanshan Bamboo Sea, which is a national reserve. It occupies an area of 2,500 hectares.

The bamboo forest is largely unknown to tourists, as the region, a national economic center from 2,000 years ago, boasts too many places of historical interest developed a long time ago. The travel guides' omission of the bamboo forest makes it an ideal fairyland to escape to.

The reserve consists of several valleys and peaks, among which the 500-meter Wudi Peak is the highest in the delta region, covered with dense bamboo forest. The Wudi Peak is accessible through an 800-meter ropeway or a meandering mountain path. It takes about 12 minutes to reach the top of it by ropeway, and one-and-half hours on foot.

When the breeze blows, the bamboo leaves rustle, their trunks seem to sing because of the friction between joints, and the heads of the bamboo plants move together in rows of green waves flowing across the mountains and valleys.

After the rain, the bamboo forest is colored emerald green, and the people walking through it can even hear its happy singing. A bamboo plant can grow about 20 cm a day in ideal temperature, humidity and sunshine. When new joints grow out of the old ones, they make a special sound like kaka. When countless bamboos grow together, it sounds like a chorus.