Lao Cai, the bamboo merchant and patriarch of our host family, has been supplying bamboo to some of the world's best fly rod makers for decades. Until today, he never cast a rod made of his own bamboo. Even more impressive, he built the rod he's casting, perhaps a decade ago. With the help of Glenn Brackett, he took to the art of fly casting quickly. We are sure nobody's cast a fly rod in this area before so it was a real honor to have witnessed it.
Lao Cai practicing the art of bamboo rod fly casting in the middle school playground across from his home.