The bamboo forest around Chishui is extraordinary in scale — 87,000 hectares of subtropical bamboo covering the hills in every direction from the city, broken only by the red sandstone cliff faces and the river valleys cutting through the plateau. Walking through it is a different sensory experience from looking at it: the sound of bamboo in any wind, the green light filtering through the canopy, the smell of damp vegetation.
The Zhuyehai (Bamboo Sea) scenic area provides access to the denser sections via walking trails. A cable car runs to an elevated viewpoint from which the extent of the forest becomes clear — in clear weather, you can see bamboo covering the hills for 20 kilometres in every direction. The trails on the ground level follow streams and small valleys where the bamboo growth is densest. The forest is home to clouded leopards and Chinese giant salamanders, though you are unlikely to encounter either without significant patience and luck.