Yiyang Nan Bamboo

Yiyang Nan Bamboo

　　Yiyang City has the largest area of nan bamboo cultivation in the province. Thanks to its large-scale planting and long history, it was honored as the “Hometown of Nan Bamboo” by the State Forestry Administration in 1995.

　　　　Nan bamboo is commonly referred to as moso bamboo by outsiders, but it is different from regular moso bamboo. In fact, nan bamboo is the most precious and most economically valuable type of practical bamboo among moso varieties.

　　　　Among China’s more than 300 species of woody bamboo plants, nan bamboo grows quickly and adapts well. It takes 60 years to regrow a 60-foot-tall tree, while a 60-foot nan bamboo can regenerate in just 59 days. Large-scale cultivation of nan bamboo helps prevent soil erosion, regulate local microclimates, purify the air, beautify the environment, and significantly shortens the time needed to form a mature forest compared to timber.

　　　　Nan bamboo is the fastest-growing, highest-quality, most versatile, most economically valuable, and most widely cultivated bamboo species. It is mainly distributed in Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, and other regions. Among them, Hunan-grown nan bamboo is considered the best in quality, followed by those from Jiangxi and Fujian.

　　　　The city boasts abundant bamboo and timber resources, with a forested area of 8.416 million mu and a standing timber volume of 26.6 million cubic meters. Its forest coverage rate reaches 53.84%. Six major forestry pillar industries have been developed, focusing on bamboo products, forest pulp and paper, forest panels, oil tea, seedlings and flowers, and forest ecological tourism. Taojiang County is even known as “830,000 people, 830,000 mu of bamboo,” and has been named the “Hometown of Bamboo” by the National Forestry Department.

　　　　The people of Yiyang have long known how to use bamboo to make various utensils and to beautify their lives.

　　　　During the Qing Dynasty, Yiyang was renowned across southern China as the “City of Bamboo Products.” The water bamboo mats of Maozhu Lake, the small yu-style bamboo ware of Hejiaqiao, and the bamboo-ribbed paper umbrellas of Sanliqiao were hailed as the “Three Treasures of the Bamboo City.”