"Areas planted with bamboo form a continuous stretch of lush green, creating a stark contrast with the unplanted land," remarked Wen Peng, the Party branch secretary of Yinchang Village, his fingers sweeping across the mountainside covered with square bamboo (Chimonobambusa quadrangularis) at the source of the Chishui River in Zhenxiong County, Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province. His voice was filled with unmistakable pride. This village, nestled by the river, has the Chishui River meandering through it. Once, the riverbanks were dominated by rocky, shallow, stony and skeletal soils where "nothing would grow." Today, square bamboo breaks through the rocks, takes root, and flourishes into dense groves, not only cloaking the barren hills in fresh green but also significantly improving villagers' livelihoods and fattening their wallets.
"Chishui River has become our river of prosperity," exclaimed Chang Kaishi, Deputy County Head of Zhenxiong County, noting that the river's ecology has improved, diversifying the industries viable along its banks and enriching people's lives. This vivid contrast between green and barren landscapes serves as a powerful testament to Zhenxiong's strategy of revitalizing through bamboo, using greenery to enrich the people, successfully preserving clear waters and lush mountains while turning the adage of "growing gold from rock crevices" into reality.
Who could have imagined that these now verdant slopes were once unsuitable for traditional crops like corn and potatoes, yielding less than 100 yuan per mu. Yet, square bamboo thrives precisely in this impoverished soil, sinking deep roots into rocky fissures. Its extensive root system helps consolidate soil and retain water, making it an "ecological guardian" for the source of the Chishui River.
Protecting the river's purity cannot rely solely on restrictions and conservation. Leveraging its natural endowment and ecological responsibilities, the local government has established bamboo planting as the leading "one county, one industry" initiative, clothing the once barren hills in green. Today, 1.045 million mu of bamboo forests across the county form a robust ecological barrier, sequestering 200,000 tons of carbon annually. The water quality at the source of the Chishui River has consistently remained Category II or better, truly achieving the goal of "planting bamboo to protect the river, and using the river to boost industry."
"Before, planting corn and potatoes, we toiled all year just to scrape by. Now, planting bamboo brings over 1,000 yuan per mu annually. My family's 10 mu of bamboo forest earns more than 10,000 yuan a year!" Zhang Qingyu, a villager from Yinchang Village who has lived by the Chishui River for over 40 years, told reporters with a smile. He started planting bamboo by the river in 2018, and two years later, he joined the team of river guardians. As an "ecological sentinel" protecting the Chishui River, Zhang Qingyu sees a synergistic, mutually reinforcing relationship between ecological protection and the bamboo industry.
"The bamboo here, nourished by the fresh water from the Chishui River's source, is clearly of superior quality," Zhang Qingyu explained, noting that bamboo shoots grown by the river are exceptionally sweet and tender, with yield and quality roughly double that of other areas, commanding a purchase price several mao higher per jin. This villager, who is both an ecological protector and an industry beneficiary, has personally witnessed Zhenxiong's profound transition from a "coal pit economy" to a "bamboo economy."
In the past, the area relied on coal mining for livelihood—a single, unstable industry. For survival, many young people had no choice but to leave their hometowns to find work elsewhere. Now, with the rise of the square bamboo industry and an increasingly livable environment, villagers can achieve stable income growth through "employment at their doorstep." "After harvesting fresh shoots, we just wash and sell them at the village collection point—no need to travel far, and the income is steady!" Facilitated by the local government, bamboo shoot companies have established collection points widely across the county's villages and towns, creating a "company + farmer + base" production-marketing model that ensures a ready market for the shoots sprouting from the rocky soil.
Zhang Qingyu's story is not unique. In Zhenxiong, the bamboo industry has become a wealth-building sector benefiting thousands of households, thoroughly replacing the old label of "coal economy" with the new identity of "bamboo economy." "Making a living from the bamboo forest" has become a new rural trend. Currently, annual income for bamboo-growing households in Zhenxiong can reach up to 70,000-80,000 yuan, with the lowest still earning 20,000-30,000 yuan. By 2025, the comprehensive output value of the county's bamboo industry had already reached 1.7 billion yuan. Young people who once migrated for work are returning home in droves, some focusing on scientific forest management, others engaging in initial processing of fresh shoots, and some starting e-commerce livestream sales.
Behind the transformation of each emerald bamboo stalk into a best-selling product lies the increasingly robust green ecological barrier of the Chishui River. With their extensive, interlocking root systems, the bamboo plants firmly anchor the soil of the rocky desertified mountains, effectively curbing the soil erosion previously caused by coal mining and over-cultivation within the watershed. Monitoring data shows that soil erosion in bamboo-covered areas has been reduced by over 75% compared to non-forested areas. Sediment content in the river channels has dropped significantly, the once-muddy waters have regained their clarity, and the mainstream water quality has stabilized at Category II or above.
As evergreen plants, the million-plus mu of bamboo forests conserve water sources year-round, providing excellent habitats for rare species like fish and macaques. This has led to an increase in the river's fish population from 36 species in 2020 to 43 species by 2025. This virtuous cycle of "using bamboo to protect the river, and the river to nourish the bamboo" has both repaired the ecological environment damaged by past industrial activity and allowed villagers to reap tangible benefits from protecting the greenery, creating a mutually beneficial and win-win situation.
This win-win outcome is inseparable from the guidance of national strategy and the precise policies implemented by local governments. The provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan have pioneered a new model for ecological protection and governance in the Chishui River basin. Locally, authorities have anchored their efforts around three key positioning goals and the provincial government's six-action plan, establishing the bamboo industry as the core driver for both ecological protection and rural revitalization. The government provides farmers with free bamboo seedlings, technical training, and loan interest subsidies. Through guidance on land transfer and standardized management of cooperatives, it promotes large-scale bamboo planting on rocky desertified land. Concurrently, measures like garbage and sewage treatment and household toilet upgrades have been incorporated into village regulations, supported by the construction of sewage treatment stations and artificial ecological wetlands.
To ensure a market for the village's bamboo shoots, the local government has streamlined the production-marketing chain, establishing fresh shoot collection points in townships to guarantee immediate processing of raw materials. Subsidiaries of Shanghai Century Legend Food Co., Ltd. have established roots in the Chishui River basin, setting up multiple modern processing plants in areas like Zhenxiong and Yanjin. Using high-quality local bamboo shoots as the core raw material, they have built a comprehensive production system from field harvesting to dinner table consumption, serving as a vivid microcosm of the high-quality development of the basin's bamboo industry.
"The ecology has improved, the industry has taken off, and only then have we truly understood that 'clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets'," Wen Peng told reporters. He mentioned that over half the villagers in his village are now planting bamboo. One villager once pointed to the bamboo on the mountain and said, "My savings are all up on that mountain." The Chishui River, a heroic river etched with the Red Army's memory of crossing it four times, once witnessed the poverty and hardship of the Wumeng Mountain area. Over 90 years later, the formerly severely rocky desertified barren hills and rugged slopes are now covered with lush, green square bamboo, as millions of mu of bamboo forests stretch like a green shield as far as the eye can see.
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