Shunan Zhuhai National Park

Shunan Zhuhai National Park (蜀南竹海国家公园) is in Sichuan province. It is also known as The Bamboo Forest, The Bamboo Sea and The Bamboo City.

Understand
The Shunan Bamboo Forest (Shunan Zhuhai) is a huge bamboo forest that covers 120 km². The park is famous for the natural beauty of the bamboo forests, scenes from the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were shot here. It has two cable cars, plenty of waterfalls and lakes.

Climate
High season is from January till November. The best time to see the waterfalls is winter, there is not much water during summer.

Get in
From Chengdu. You can get here from Chengdu by taking a bus to Yibin and then taking a number 4 local bus across town to the Yibin South bus station (Nan An). From there you can catch a bus to the park entrance. The last bus leaves from Yibin to the park at 16:00. It is also possible to hire a taxi from Yibin to the park for around ¥200.

From Chongqing. Bus from Chonqing to Yibin costs ¥90 and takes 4-5 hours.

Fees and permits
Entrance fee to the park is ¥121 (May 2012). There are two cable cars on the territory of the park, first is ¥40, second is ¥30 for two-way journey.

Get around
For ¥200-280 you should be able to hire a car and driver for the day. (For the whole car not per person). Or expect to pay ¥30 for 2 persons for a transfer between any two park points.

Do
Explore picturesque walking routes inside the bamboo forest and around the mountains and waterfalls. Start as early as 06:00 to avoid local tourist groups.

Go next
Direct bus to Yibin leaves at 14:00 from the Western Gates. Buses to Chang Ning bus station leave every 30 min.