Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news

Representatives from a township in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, are in Shanghai this month seeking local sponsors to adopt bamboo woods in its territory, a move designed to promote the local tourism industry, the Shanghai Evening News reported.
Hengjie Town in Ningbo's Yingzhou District, dubbed "the home of China's bamboo", is marketing 50,000 mu (33,350,000 square meters) of the woods to local people.  By paying a yearly adoption fee of 300 yuan (US$36) for every 0.1 mu, people can cut bamboo and dig its roots in their adopted areas for free, as long as the total volume of the woods remains balanced, according to Hengjie's publicity official Liu Yuezhu.
If the total volume of the woods becomes unbalanced, the interests of the local farmers will be hurt and the ecological system will be damaged, he noted.  The contract lasts for one year.
"There's no any extra requirement for the adoption program and adoptors can cut bamboos and dig bamboo roots here at any time to enjoy the taste of local rural life," he said.
Farmers in Hengjie will take care of the bamboo, he added.  Adopters only need to notify the farmers before their visit.  Farmers will prepare tools for them and give guidance on how to cut bamboo and dig its roots.
So far, more than 40 mu of bamboo from over 60 farmers have been adopted, with each adoption contract for areas of between 0.2 and 0.5 mu.
Hengjie's tourism authority and township government have jointly organized the program.