The hills above Yongchuan, about an hour west of central Chongqing, are a ridge of bamboo forest and tea plantations that has become one of the city's most popular escapes. The name means tea mountain and bamboo sea, and both parts are accurate: the upper slopes are planted with tea in terraces, and the flanks and the plateau are covered in dense stands of bamboo that run for kilometres without a break in the canopy.
The bamboo
The bamboo forest is worked rather than wild. Shoots are harvested in spring, culms are cut for everything from scaffolding to furniture to food, and the forest is managed in rotation, which is why the stands are so even and so dense. Paths and boardwalks run through it, and in the middle of the day the light filters down in green flashes, with the culms creaking and knocking in the wind and the sound carrying a long way. The forest's most famous appearance on film is in a wuxia sequence in which the characters fight on the tops of the bamboo - a scene made on this ridge, and one of the reasons the site became popular.
The tea
The ridge is also tea country, and the local speciality is a fine green tea picked in early spring, dried and pressed into flat or slightly curled leaves, sold all over Chongqing. The plantations are in terraces along the upper roads, with views out over the bamboo and down towards the plain, and there are tea houses and farm restaurants on the hill where you can drink it and buy it packaged. Spring picking starts in late March and early April, and the tea produced in the first weeks is the most valued.
Practical notes
Chashan is about an hour from central Chongqing by road, and is reachable by bus or taxi from Yongchuan, which has rail connections to the city. There is an admission charge and the area is large, so walking the main trails takes a full day and driving between viewpoints with short walks is the practical option for a half day. Summer is hot and humid in the bamboo but the canopy gives shade; autumn and spring are the best seasons. The farm restaurants on the ridge serve good country food, and the tea houses are the reason many people come.
