PR86358

CHENGDU, China, Nov. 1, 2020 /Xinhua=KYODO JBN/--

The 2020 China International Bamboo Industry Exhibition & First Digital

International Panda Festival will be held in Qingshen County of Meishan City

between November 2 and 7, jointly sponsored by China Chamber of Commerce for

Import and Export of Light Industrial Products and Arts-Crafts (CCCLA) and

China Bamboo Industry Association, and jointly organized by the Sichuan

Forestry and Grassland Administration and Meishan Municipal People's Government.

The China International Bamboo Industry Exhibition is a global exhibition and

sales gala for the bamboo industry, and this year's expo will revolve around

the theme "Bamboos Connect the World". During the span of the exhibition, more

than 400 participants including the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan

(INBAR) and guests from member states, officials from foreign consulates, heads

of relevant state ministries and commissions, provincial and municipal leaders,

guests from bamboo-producing regions nationwide, experts, scholars and

exhibitors will descend on Meishan to jointly discuss the development of the

bamboo industry and spark the revival of bamboo industry.

The First Digital International Panda Festival will rely on the Internet to

introduce and promote to people worldwide a series of important ecological,

scientific, technological and cultural feats achieved in Sichuan's nature

reserve establishment as represented by the Giant Panda National Park. At the

opening ceremony, interviews by third-party will allow people around the globe

to learn through the Internet about the living conditions of Sichuan giant

pandas in the Macao Region of China and those residing abroad at places like

Wakayama Adventure World in Japan, ZooParc de Beauval in France, Copenhagen Zoo

in Denmark and Zoo Berlin in Germany. Books such as Gift of Nature: Discover

the Original Sichuan, Sichuan Bamboo Forest Landscape and Hidden Sichuan: 88

Most Beautiful Forest and Grasslands Not to Miss will also premier at the Panda

Festival.

The Bamboo Expo will also host International Bamboo Product Creative Design

Contest, certify products with ecological origins and giant panda-friendly

features, announce declaration for the founding of the China Bamboo Industry

High-quality Development Alliance, hold the China Bamboo Industry Summit and

Bamboo Industry Matchmaking Conference, and organize a myriad of other

activities such as bamboo-weaving performance and the online and offline

exhibitions of products. Bamboo product exhibition and sales constitute one of

the major components of the Bamboo Expo, and this edition of the event will

feature 300 international standard exhibition booths totaling approximately

13,000 square meters in space and featuring nearly 300 exhibitors and around a

thousand buyers.

Meishan is a National Forest City in western China, a crucial part of the

Sichuan sector of the Giant Panda National Park, the birthplace of revered

intellect Su Dongpo, and dubbed the "home of Chinese bamboo-weaving art" and

"international bamboo-weaving capital".

The pilot zone of the Giant Panda National Park boasts one of the world's

highest biodiversity, as it is home to almost 10,000 species of rare wild fauna

and flora including the giant panda, Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey and

Chinese dove tree. Among the various divisions, Meishan is often touted as the

pearl of the south of the Giant Panda National Park. Bamboo is the main staple

for the giant panda and Meishan is major location of bamboo resources: Qingshen

County has created the country's first bamboo forest wetland park, Dongpo

District's Bamboo Culture Park has opened its doors to visitors, and the

naturally cool bamboo forest at Hongya is well-known as an idyllic heat escape.

The long and lush Meishan bamboo is ideal for use in bamboo-weaving products.

As early as in 2008, renowned French luxury brand Hermes teamed up with

Qingshen bamboo-weaving, the most iconic amongst all Meishan bamboo-weaving

crafts, for production of top-notch porcelain-bodied bamboo-weaving. With

Chinese national geographical indication protection status, Qingshen

bamboo-weaving is famed as one of the "three treasures of central Shu"

alongside silk and Shu embroidery. "Meishan bamboo-weaving" is comprised of

more than 3,000 types of products in 25 categories like flat bamboo-weaving,

three-dimensional bamboo-weaving and porcelain-bodied bamboo-weaving, with

creations on display at China Import and Export Fair, China International

Import Expo, Western China International Fair, Expo 2019 Beijing and other

conventions and exhibitions, and sold in over 50 regions and nations such as

Europe, the U.S., Republic of Korea and Japan.

Bamboo-weaving is a manifestation of the Meishan people's familiarity and

proficiency with the use of the plant, and Meishan has developed four major

bamboo products, i.e. bamboo-weaving, bamboo paper, "bamboo steel" (bamboo

fiber material) and bamboo bucket. Meishan has 1.09 million mu of bamboo forest

and its bamboo industry is valued at seven billion yuan. Characterized by

green, eco-friendly and low-carbon attributes, the creative invention of bamboo

fiber tissue has given rise to BABO, the leading brand in natural-colored

tissue paper in China that accounts for one-fifth of the Chinese market.

Apart from bamboo-weaving and bamboo paper, the Meishan people have elevated

the value of bamboo to a whole new level. At Hongya of Meishan, bamboos would

undergo repeated compression, drying and other procedures and turned into

"bamboo steel," a high-performance material as strong and durable as glass

fiber reinforced plastic capable of a wide range of applications from

architectural structure component to outdoor flooring and interior doors and

windows with product lifespan up to half a century. In 2019, "Meishan bamboo

bucket" was showcased in all its glory at the opening ceremony of the

horticultural exposition Expo 2019 Beijing, when the world witnessed Chinese

and foreign leaders using bamboo buckets made in Meishan to plant "friendship

oasis".

Venerated Chinese intellect Su Dongpo said "rather live without meat than

without bamboo," and he spent his whole life writing about bamboo, eating

bamboo, painting bamboo and being accompanied by bamboo, which probably makes

him one of the most ardent fans of bamboo in history. Today, in the Chinese

city of Meishan, a famous historical and cultural city in the southwestern part

of the country, bamboo and the giant panda have emerged as icons that attract

worldwide attention.

Source: China Bamboo Industry Association