Wutongqiao Bitter Bamboo Shoots

Wutongqiao Bitter Bamboo Shoots

　　Bitter bamboo is an ecological specialty product of Wutongqiao. Among local farmers, cultivating bitter bamboo is figuratively referred to as "lazy farming." As the area under bitter bamboo cultivation has expanded and the yield of bitter bamboo shoots has increased year by year, the district has utilized the working platform of the "Tianfu Agricultural Information Network" to publish supply and sales information for bitter bamboo shoots, attracting merchants from other regions to negotiate purchases. The shoots are sold to major cities such as Chengdu, Deyang, and Mianyang. Some skilled rural entrepreneurs have established bitter bamboo shoot processing factories, canning the fresh shoots. The canned products are exported to places such as Shanghai, Hebei, and Chongqing, generating annual sales revenue of 2 million yuan.

Bitter bamboo shoots, called "nuo hong" in the Dai language, are the tender shoots sprouted from bamboo of the species scientifically named bitter bamboo. Bitter bamboo has straight and slender stems. Thicker ones can reach about 4 cm in diameter, while thinner ones are only as thick as a finger. This type of bamboo grows sporadically in forests. Shoots begin to emerge in early spring, and the shooting period lasts for over four months. When freshly dug out of the ground, bitter bamboo shoots have a slightly sweet taste. However, once the shoots grow longer above the soil, their bitterness becomes very strong—hence the name "bitter bamboo shoots."