Huaiji Tea Pole Bamboo

Huaiji Tea Pole Bamboo

Huaiji Tea Pole Bamboo is a protected geographical indication product.

　　    Huaiji County is a key forestry production area in Guangdong Province, among which the li bamboo from Aozai Town is world-renowned. There, li bamboo covers the mountainsides, growing densely and continuously. Li bamboo features straight poles, tough material, uniform thickness, moderate internode length, strong resilience, and is highly resistant to pests, hence also known as "steel bamboo." Huaiji li bamboo is premium material for making fishing rods, ski poles, high-end furniture, and carved handicrafts, and is exported to over 40 countries including Europe, America, and Australia. (Zhaoqing)

　　　Tea pole bamboo, also known as li bamboo (Pseudosasa amabilis (McClure)). Huaiji tea pole bamboo is famous both domestically and internationally for its straight poles, thick walls, fine rings, toughness, smoothness, elasticity  Figure 1 Huaiji tea pole bamboo (li bamboo)

　　. It is also corrosion-resistant, pest-resistant, and renowned worldwide, earning accolades from foreign experts as "steel bamboo" and "the king of bamboos." Its uses are extensive—it can serve as construction material and is also used to make musical instruments, fishing rods, ski poles, bird cages, painted screens, bamboo curtains, bamboo skewers, furniture, and bamboo handicrafts, among others. It began entering the international market as early as the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty. Tea pole bamboo is one of the main bulk export commodities of Huaiji County, sold to dozens of countries and regions including Europe and America.

　　　Tea pole bamboo mainly grows in the mountains of eastern and southern Huaiji County, with concentrated production areas along the Sui River in the southeast. Aozai District has over 4,660 hectares of tea pole bamboo, and the Dakengshan Agriculture and Forestry Farm has over 3,330 hectares, accounting for 60% of the total tea pole bamboo forest area in Huaiji County. The tea pole bamboo in Luoda, Aozai, Datong, Libo, Xianxi and other townships in Aozai District, as well as Panbu, Gaolong and other townships in the Dakengshan Agriculture and Forestry Farm, forms continuous stretches of mountain and grove—authentic "Aozai tea pole bamboo" comes from this region. The eastern part of Yonggu District, the southern part of Zhagang District, and townships such as Meishi, Dali, Dalong, and Pingnan in Xingfu District are also major production areas, each with dozens of hectares of tea pole bamboo forests. Qiaoshui, Gansha, Dagang, Fenggang District, and Gonghe Township in the Urban Area also have relatively large continuous tea pole bamboo forests. The tea pole bamboo grown in these areas is generally short and slender, commonly referred to as "fence bamboo." Other districts and townships have small amounts of tea pole bamboo mixed within timber forests or other bamboo groves.

　　 Product Performance

　　Quality Characteristics

　　　　Tea pole bamboo features straight poles, thick walls, thin branches, sparse leaves, flat nodes, fine rings, smooth surface, toughness, strong elasticity, resistance to pests, and corrosion resistance, earning it the reputation of "steel bamboo." When sanded and dried, it turns light yellow. Aozai tea pole bamboo has the best performance. In the 1950s, the Soviet Union used Aozai tea pole bamboo to make the "Kuybyshev" brand ski poles; international ski competitions once designated ski poles made from Huaiji Aozai tea pole bamboo. According to Professor Martin from Harvard University (who visited Aozai in August 1974 to study tea pole bamboo), after being exported to the United States, Huaiji tea pole bamboo held high value—the fishing rods made from it had a minimum market price of $100 per unit, and up to $200–300.

　　Processing Characteristics

　　　　Due to its superior quality and attractive appearance, tea pole bamboo is widely used to make furniture and utensils such as tables, chairs, bookshelves, screens, bird cages, fishing rods, and poultry coops, as well as handicrafts such as flower baskets, bamboo paintings, bamboo curtains, and flower pots. It is also an excellent material for construction, gardening, and producing high-quality paper.

　　　The geographical indication protection area for Huaiji tea pole bamboo covers the entire administrative region of Huaiji County, Guangdong Province.