Editor's Note:
These villagers will go to great heights to pick square bamboo. Residents of Nanchuan, Chongqing make a living by scaling the cliffs of nearby Jinfo Mountain – a 1,700 meter trip – to reach the succulent bamboo shoots that grow on top, which they sell to vendors.
Square bamboo is a rare plant found only in China, 43 percent of which grows in Chongqing Municipality.
Photos: VCG
A woman climbs down the cliff on a wooden ladder October 20. Zhou said the same wooden ladder has been in use for almost a century. Photo: VCG 
Zhou searches for bamboo shoots on the mountaintop October 20. He is one of 50,000 villagers who pick and produce 15,000 tons of bamboo shoots every year. Usually, one villager collects about 100 grams of bamboo each day, which sell for 2 yuan ($0.3) a gram. Photo: VCG
