I still find myself amazed at the stability of the bamboo rafts used in China such as this one being used by a man harvesting river weed. These rafts really do seem to be the utility vehicles of these waterways.
This man is using two bamboo poles as giant chopsticks to gather weed from the river bottom. My guess is that he twirled the weed between the chopsticks like noodles and them just picked them up.
The raft is about 25 – 30 feet long and maybe 2.5 feet wide yet is appears quite stable. The rafters typically stand on the raft and use it as a base for all sorts of activities, such as selling wares to passing tourists, fishing by cormorant, fishing by net or by line, and just carrying stuff around.
The water here appears to be quite clear and the green color is provided by the abundant weed and also the trees and shrubs on the banks.
I took this photo over 20 years ago. I wonder if this tradition continues or if progress has mechanized it and rendered this scene truly from the past.
I've no idea what he wanted the river weed for, feeding livestock perhaps? 
