Yixing's bamboo forest, tea park prove to be a delight

Tour of regions also takes in province of Jiangsu's fascinating local culture

There is a level of comfort and beauty in Yixing's environment that few cities can match, said foreign journalists who toured Jiangsu province last month.

One highlight was on the borders of Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces. Yixing bamboo forest is a top choice for people who want to enjoy fresh air and leisure activities.

The forest is one of the national 4A-level scenic spots, covering 15,000 hectares and known as China's No 1 bamboo forest. It has more than 100 species of bamboos including moso bamboo, sympodial bamboo and indocalamus.

The bottom of the forest is at the foot of the highest mountain in the southern part of Jiangsu province, with a height of 611.5 meters above sea level. It is also the place which reportedly has the highest content of negative ions in Jiangsu, some 10 to 15 times the levels of cities, according to a tourist guide at the forest.

"The bamboo forest is all-inspiring and my impression is every leaf of bamboo here seems to have a very specific purpose," said Stephen Steele, a reporter from the Bangkok Post, a Thailand-based English-language newspaper.

About 23 kilometers away from the forest is the Longchi Mountain scenic spot, whose fame can be traced back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), and which is now an attraction featuring leisure activities and local culture.

Covering an area of 12 square kilometers, the scenic spot consists of a bicycle park, a natural forest reserve, the Yangxian tea industrial park and the Chengguang temple.

Home to the tea culture in Jiangsu, Yixing is the city with the largest tea plantation area and the highest tea production volume in the province.

The tea industrial park in the scenic spot covers an area of 2,467 hectares and is the province's single biggest tea producer.

With the advantage of its tea plantation, the scenic spot has established 'experience projects' that feature the tea culture and has set up teahouses in the area to enable visitors to enjoy the tea and natural sightseeing, said Yang Yang, a worker at the scenic spot.

"I used to live in the Chinatown in New York and I'm not new to tea, but the tea's flavor here is exciting and it is probably the best I have ever had," the Bangkok Post's Steele said.

In addition, a local traditional performance is staged in the tea garden. It is a local dance with a history of more than 600 years, usually at the temple fair, performed as a ritual to pray for the gods' blessing.

"I didn't come here with any expectation. I just came here with an open mind to see the sights and try new things," Steele said.

"One of the things I will be willing to do is come back."

liangkaiyan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/05/2018 page18)