China's Bamboo Sea & Dinosaur Fossils
Travel Guide for Sichuan’s Sea of Green & Zigong Dinosaur Museum
Southern Sichuan’s Bamboo Sea (Shunan Zhuhai, pinyin) is located along the border of Changning and Jiang’an near Yibin City, about 3-4 hours by bus from Chengdu, Sichuan’s capital. Also about an hour from Yibin City, is one of the world’s largest dinosaur museums, built on the legendary fossil site, Zigong. Both sites are impressive in their own right, and due to their proximity, travelers can discover both in only two days.
The Bamboo Sea covers 120 sq. km of luscious, rolling red-karst mountains that crumble beneath the verdant sea. Countless little streams sprint across the bedrock and spill out over the sheer cliffs, shrouding the valleys in white mist. Hidden along the dappled mountainsides are Buddhist shrines, Chinese calligraphy, and the hermetic caves of the famous poet Huang Tingjian who cried, “The waves of bamboo spread thousands of miles, which inebriates me like good wine.”
With a 134 scenic spots, 30 bamboo varieties, historical sites, and a bamboo museum, this area of Sichuan is a great place to escape the noisy city pollution and drink in the endless fresh air. Listed as one of the 40 best places in China, The Bamboo Sea will leave visitors intoxicated and dazzled. And the bamboo growing here has also nurtured a unique culture, still visible in the ancient towns inside the park.
Bamboo Culture, Art, and Products
The locals have used bamboo for everything from food to shelter, for centuries, and it is so engrained in their history that it is revered like a deity. Stepping into the bamboo museum, guests will see flutes, weapons, cooking utensils, tea sets, ancient scrolls; their history having been recorded through every season’s notch of the growing bamboo.
Bamboo furniture, bamboo mats, flower vases, bamboo flooring, decorative art and almost every conceivable use for bamboo can be purchased here. There are also dozens of delicious bamboo dishes to sample. Don’t forget to try the famous Sunzhu Fungus, a delicate mushroom that looks like a girl in a white straw skirt. Bursting with 21 amino acids this fungus is highly medicinal and delicious; large bags can be purchased throughout the park.
Zigong Dinosaur Museum
The Zigong Dinosaur Museum, known as the “Oriental Dragon Palace,” was built over the Dashanpu Dinosaur Quarry. Located about 90 minutes from Yibin City, this is a great stop to make on the way back to Chengdu or Chongqing. This is one of the largest fossil museums in the world and covers an area of 66,000 sq. meters.
The museum is home to a large number of fossils from the Middle Jurassic period about 160 million years ago. Only about 20 percent of the world’s fossils belong to the late Jurassic period, and very few have been recovered of the Middle Jurassic period, which makes Zigong so unique. Also at the museum are many complete and some of the best-preserved fossils in the world.
The museum has three floors. The first, houses the main fossils on display including many carnosaurs, stegosaurs, sauropods, and some of the world’s best preserved ornithopods. The second floor houses a large number of other vertabrates, invertabrates, and plant species of that age, alongside the 3D movie theater. The basement is a replica of the fossil burial site that the museum was constructed on top of.
Sichuan’s verdant Bamboo Sea and the Zigong Dinosaur Museum are two wonderful tourist sites located very close to Chengdu and Chongqing. Both are well worth a visit, if only to escape from the noise and pollution of the city
Bamboo Sea Waterfall
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