Bamboo is not something I generally found myself concerned with, and I didn't have a problem with that. Bamboo minded its business and I minded mine, and things worked pretty well that way. That is, until I walked into Mr. Green Bamboo on Ping Jiang Road in the heart of historical downtown Suzhou where our worlds collided.
If you haven't been to Ping Jiang road before, then you either haven't been in Suzhou long or you don't have a soul. It's a long, scenic, and historic walking strip that has been revitalized in recent years, and is now a very nice spot to shop and hang out. If you're driving there, you'll need to leave your car on one of the nearby streets and walk, and you're lucky because it's a really nice walk with a lot of unique businesses, including a decent selection of coffee shops and small bars. One of those unique businesses is Mr. Green Bamboo.
This place is packed with bowls, miniature bamboo ferris wheels, carvings, game boards, and a lot of really intriguing knick-knacks of various varieties. I was surprised at how well-made and sturdy everything was, and the prices were Chinese prices (read: cheap). After meandering around the shop for awhile I decided on a few kitchen utensils, including a spatula. Bamboo doesn't melt, like a lot of local plastic spatulas, one of which adhered to the bottom of my pancake recently. Resistance to melting is a characteristic which I nearly always take advantage of in any given situation.
Just about everything in this shop is locally made, by hand, from bamboo. What do you give the man who has everything? Something made from bamboo. Don't doubt my logic. If you've never heard it's not true, then it stands to reason that it must be true, and I'll write it down for you with my new bamboo ink pen if I still have any of that bamboo paper lying around.
Bottom line, for souvenirs for Mom or for practical bamboo-related items around the house, this is your place.
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