The Third Hangzhou Bamboo Shoot Festival raised its curtain on Nov 16 in Hangzhou's Yuhang county to explore more ways of enjoying bamboo.

The festival, part of year-long events of the Hangzhou West Lake Expo, includes a talk on bamboo shoot trade, a forum on bamboo industry development, an exhibition on bamboo painting and photography, as well as displays of fine bamboo products.

A cross-Straits contest on bamboo craft design co-hosted by Taiwan's Nantou county and Hangzhou is a highlight of the festival, which will explore new usages of bamboo products and discuss bamboo culture.

Local travel agencies are also planning to organize eco-tours on experiencing bamboo towns for tourists starting from mid-December.

Hangzhou is a major area for producing bamboo. The city's Lin'an and Yuhang counties were named “A Land of Bamboo” by the State Forestry Bureau.

Due to a shortage of domestic wood supplies and the new trend to eat ecologically-grown food, there is fast growing demand for both bamboo trees and organically-grown bamboo shoots in China. Gross revenue of the Hangzhou bamboo industry exceeded 2 billion yuan in 2008 and bamboo has become a major source of income for local farmers.

One organizer of the festival who didn't give his name said Hangzhou's bamboo shoots have been exported to over 30 countries and regions including Japan, South Korea and several European countries. He expected the festival to make the city's bamboo known to more people and attract more business opportunities.

By Guo Changdong