Bamboo

Today we visited a bamboo specialist in nearby Shangli, who makes furniture, ladders, divider walls, or basically anything you want out of bamboo, and bamboo alone. He does not use any glue, nails, or even rope or string. All connections are secured by small bamboo pegs, cut to the right size. Even the little cabin which functions as both office and warehouse is constructed entirely out of bamboo. It is stuffed to the bamboo roof with bamboo stools, bamboo chairs, bamboo baby cots, bamboo coffee tables and just raw material: bamboo sticks. It's a little house of bamboo magic.
The first day we came, the bamboo master was not there, but his wife showed some examples, and outside I spotted a flat bamboo bed, so it seemed. It appeared to be just the horizontal part of a single bed, without legs and headboard. I immediately imagined using it as a low couch, just by adding some legs and putting some pillows on top. I discussed my plan a few days later when the master was in his shop. He let me draw what I wanted, named his price, and it was a deal (150 RMB). He stepped outside to look at the bed for a moment, and then said he would make a new one, but I told him I wanted the old one standing there, he only had to add six legs (just to make sure it doesn't bend too much when more than one person is sitting on it). His wife explained that I preferred the older bamboo, already aged slightly, with a nice patina. On my first visit I had bought a pair of low stools (25 RMB each), obviously made by someone with a love for bamboo and who knows what he's doing. Fit's perfectly in the environment of our new apartment.