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Is there anything you can't do with bamboo? Chairs, tables, lamps, carpets, cages, bags, bridges, baskets, musical instruments - entire houses are made of bamboo - floors, walls, roof, and plumbing too. I've seen seven-story buildings go up using only bamboo scaffolding. And let's not forget, you can eat it.

Here, Mr. Thong Ma is making something rather simple, a hand held fan useful for rekindling a flame from embers. In Laos, bamboo weaving is always men's work.