The Stone Forest 石林
~Aaron
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Tea Horse Road Day 1:
Kunming, the Stone Forest |
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| Tea Horse Road |
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| Tea Horse Road |
The Tea Horse Road was made of multiple caravan paths going through the Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou provinces in the southwestern section of China. It was also called the Southern Silk Road. The Tea Horse Road started in Tang Dynasty (618-907) and ended in 1960s when Tibetan Highway was constructed. Its main purpose was to exchange the Yunnan Pu-erh Tea for Tibetan horses. Today, the remains of the ancient paths are nearly gone, but its historical values remain.
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| Entrance |
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| View from the top of a tower |
The Stone Forest is located inside Kunming, a place along the Tea Horse Road and capital of Yunnan. It includes 2 parts, the Major Stone Forest (大石林) and the Minor Stone Forest (小石林) and many unique shapes. The history is very long here. The most famous section of this place is Ashima (阿诗玛)， located at the Minor Stone Forest.
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| Climbed up to the top of the tower |
The Stone Forest has an interesting story. Geological research shows that the Stone Forest was a shallow sea 270 million years ago. Large amounts of sandstone covered by limestone increased inside this place during the Permian period. Tectonic plates lifting up in this region occurred with deposition and exposure to wind and running water gave these limestone ridges their shape. These formations extend very far, like a huge forest of stone, so it’s "the Stone Forest".
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| Major Stone Forest |
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| Stone like a turtle head |
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| Heart and lungs of Shilin (stone) |
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Doesn't it remind you
of the Angry Birds
bomb bird?
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The Stone Forest has many unique shapes. We saw one that looked like the bomb bird from Angry Birds! A rock turtle head peeked out from the other rocks. 3 bumps on the tunnel wall are supposed to be the heart and lungs of the Stone Forest. The Stone Forest contains these designs and more. The traditional dance performance by Sani people (彝族撒尼人) was very interesting.
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| A bird's sharp mouth |
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Alligator mouth
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Ashima,
a beautiful Sani girl
美丽的撒尼姑娘 |
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| Ashima |
Ashima is a tall and thin stone, the star stone of the Minor Stone Forest. Everybody came here just for a glance at her. A 1950s movie explains a myth about Ashima (阿诗玛). Ashima was a beautiful Sani girl. She was captured and forced to marry a landlord’s son. However, she refused to marry. Her boyfriend, Ahei (阿黑哥), saved her with magical bows and arrows. Ahei and the landlord's son had a contest, and Ahei won. Both Ahei and Ashima started to travel home, but a flood drowned Ashima and made her become the rock she is today. It is a sad love story.
The Stone Forest has many awesome things. The Stone Forest was formed by a very special way. Many things are unique here, even the rock formations! The story about Ashima is extremely cool. This “forest” holds a lot of special rocks.
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| A bridge |
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| Kunming Folk Culture Village |
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| The sheep in Kunming Folk Culture Village |
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