Bamboo Sea Zen Realm, Liangping's Green Symphony

As dawn's first light paints the sky, I stand at the edge of the Hundred-Mile Bamboo Sea's Lieshen Scenic Area. Before me, emerald bamboo ridges surge like verdant waves, thousands of slender stalks whispering in the wind, their crisp fragrance saturating the air. Nestled deep within the Moonlight Mountains, this hidden paradise boasts 86.2% forest coverage, with negative oxygen ion concentrations five times higher than WHO's clean air standards—each breath feels like purifying the soul. Liangping, a wetland city on the Bayu Plains, unfolds its scroll-like landscape with 408 waterways and 77 reservoirs weaving watery farmlands, its "one mountain, two waters, seven fields" topography stretching into fertile horizons. Deep in the bamboo sea, Lieshen Three Alleys pulses with commerce beneath swaying bamboos. Each alley tells a tale: the first dazzles with bamboo crafts—woven baskets and chairs hanging like a concerto of ancient artistry; the second hums with coffee aromas and youthful laughter, where modern aesthetics take root; the third creekside hides bamboo homestays, their white-walled, gray-tiled rooms framing endless greenery. Most astonishing is the transformed Mining Café Homestay—a former paper mill and gypsum mine where explosive warehouses now house elegant lodgings, limestone fermentation pits exhale coffee scents, and industrial relics shake hands with contemporary culture. The bamboo sea's culinary memories awaken in steam rising from iron-pot rice. Firewood licks the cauldron as bamboo tubes release the earthy richness of cured pork and dried bamboo shoots. The "Whole Bamboo Banquet" arrives: bamboo fungus eggs like jade carvings, bamboo placenta resembling amber, crispy golden bamboo worms. Here, every part of the bamboo becomes a delicacy. Lieshen Three Alleys gathers Sichuan flavors into a gastronomic map—Liangping spiced duck, Kaijiang crayfish, Dianjiang stone-ground tofu—each bite a storm of Jialing River flavors, embodying the truth that "food is the people's heaven." **Wetland Idyll** Morning mist veils Shuanggui Lake like gauze, where yellow starwort flowers dot shimmering waves, their blooms rising like fallen stars. Along the lakeside path, purple verbena sways in summer breezes outside Qinglu Homestay. This national wetland park, home to 623 plant and 207 vertebrate species, even shelters the rare Baer's pochard. Against Dalian Mountain's silhouette, wetlands and cityscape harmonize, painting Liangping's vision of "industry, ecology, and landscape intertwined." The bell of Shuanggui Temple echoes across centuries. Founded in 1653, this Zen sanctuary unfolds seven halls along its central axis, from Guandi Shrine to Scripture Tower, each step resonating with history. Devotees exchange coins for vegetarian feasts—six rustic dishes where mushrooms preach Zen through flavor. Nearby, the Three Gorges Bamboo Garden's "Gentleman Bridge" spans jade waters, its 5,000-acre bamboo embrace refined into Jiangnan-style elegance, an open-air museum of bamboo culture. **Mountain Legends** Huashi Ancient Fortress rises like a spindle from Jindai Town's plains. Climbing its 80-degree "Hundred-Step Ladder," footsteps drum like war beats—behind the gate lie 300 years of armored history. Battlements once defending against White Lotus rebels now overlook an 888-meter zipline where shrieks of joy mingle with phantom war drums. Below, smart farms reinvent agriculture: Israeli drip systems nurture rainbow vegetables, Dutch greenhouses force orchids to perpetual bloom—tradition and technology reconciled on Liangping's soil. Following millennium-old flagstones, we trace the Litchi Ancient Trail through the bamboo sea. At Saibai Rabbit Pass, remnants of Isabella Bird's 1898 "inaccessible cliff refuge" linger in a few old houses. Half-buried stones on Fo'er Rock Trail rustle with startled birds—this Qin-Han era route once linked Sichuan to Jingchu lands. Midway, the repurposed Liangshan Post Homestay, a revived schoolhouse, whispers the Moonlight Mountains' green development ethos—where porters' ghosts now guide history-seeking travelers. **Homeward** As sunset gilds pomelo groves, three bamboo-scented days dissolve. Behind us: starwort blooms that never fail, stone paths engraved with merchants' steps, fortress vines knitting time. Liangping weaves "green mountains, clear waters" into daily life—reborn mines, tech-driven farms, intangible heritage brushes—each thread an ode to ecology and culture entwined. Wheels roll down the tourist avenue, parting gifts of spiced duck and pomelo sweetness braiding final memories. This Bayu granary, two-thirds wetlands, writes its verdant epic on every traveler's heart—with bamboo as paper, streams as ink. No need to ask when we'll return. For someday, weary in some city night, bamboo breezes and iron-pot smoke will rise unbidden, like moonlit ripples on Zhufeng Lake. *Liangping District, Chongqing*