Bamboo Forest

There is a bamboo forest nearby.  A few weeks ago we paid it a visit.

It was about an hour drive and after we got off the freeway it was a meandering road through some cute villages.  I started getting excited for some hiking and a lovely nature experience.

I should have known better.  This is China.  If people will come, they will find a way to make some money.  The bamboo forest was no different---it was a tourist trap.

That didn't mean we didn't enjoy it.  We did. It was a lot of fun.  But our expectations were shot down yet again.  (Pro tip, Darcee, drop all expectations, you're in China!)

At the bamboo forest, you can see shops, 

get a hot dog at "Fatty Dogg WestCoast Hot Dog", 

(perhaps I should try it, my expectations may be happily surprised; but I highly doubt it)

get measured 3 times,

 (in China, children's prices are determined by your height, not your age.  When we came to China, both girls were under 150cm so they got the child price.  Now Tessa is 150 and Greta is 151, so we pay the adult price.  Go figure that one out.)

ride in a car up to the cable car entrance

ride in a cable car up the mountain,

see a man whittling bamboo with a machete, 

(this was not like a show or demonstration, just a guy doing some work)

eat at many different shops on the way (all of the tables looked like this)

walk through a museum to see different things made from bamboo,

(the thing to the left of the spoon is a whisk.  quite inventive)

wonder about a door with an odd angle at the bottom,  

(Why?  If you can figure this one out, please explain.)  

go see a panda in the panda village, (notice Wang Jian is wearing the colors too!)

(You have to look very carefully, the panda is down on the floor behind Greta.)

see a man using a homemade hack saw to cut bamboo, (again, just men working)

see Papa Smurf (it's actually a Buddha.... what is a tourist trap without a Buddha?)

see some people sitting at tables and chairs in the water,

take a boat ride, (we didn't do this, we were in a hurry to get back for Tessa's Kung Fu class)

walk through a very small aviary, ( there were several Chinese pheasants and these two birds)

and enjoy seeing lots of bamboo. It was beautiful.  Bamboo is pretty amazing.  In some cases it is as strong as steel.  Just don't come prepared for a connection with nature like you can get in the US.