There is a 1,000-year-old bridge over the Min River in Sichuan, China, that hangs from bamboo cables.
Since the year 1000, Chinese engineers have had the job of adjusting the tension of these mighty seven-inch cables, sometimes tightening them, sometimes loosening them, by turning the great drums around which they are wrapped.
Bamboo is a remarkable building material because it combines great strength with lightness. Many bamboo structures have survived earthquakes and other disasters during which steel walls collapsed.
The strength of bamboo is so unusual that many scientists are examining it for use as a building material for outer space.
