Porous carbon materials were synthesized from bamboo shoot shells through carbonization and static air activation. The physicochemical properties of bamboo shoot shell-based porous carbon (BBC) were observed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and N2 adsorption desorption analysis. BBC has an optimal hierarchical porous structure that displays a specific surface area of 546.04 m2 g-1 and an average pore diameter of 3.28 nm. The formation mechanism of the BBC, which has a hierarchical porous structure in static air activation, was illustrated systematically. To evaluate the suitability of BBC for practical implementations further, the constructed symmetric supercapacitor achieved an energy density of 11.11 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 252 W kg-1 and an outstanding cyclic retention rate of 100% over 7,000 cycles at a current density of 10 A g-1.