Tea Horse Road - Kunming Stone Forest by Gordon 昆明石林

Kunming Shilin

- Gordon

Tea Horse Road Day 1:
Kunming, the Stone Forest

Tea Horse Road

Ready to take the flight to Kunming

      We took an evening flight from Lanzhou to Kunming, where we started our Tea Horse Road adventure. The next morning, we visited Shilin in Kunming.





Entrance

Many towers of rocks



Major Stone Forest (大石林)

Major Stone Forest

Stone Forest, 石林

      Shilin is full of history and exciting things. In English It is called Stone Forest of Yunnan. In 1931, Mr. Long Yun: Governor of Yunnan Province had a tour in the Stone Forest. On one stone he wrote these two Chinese characters backward (石林). You know ancient Chinese people wrote words backward, from right to left. From that time, Shilin opened as a national park, welcoming people from all over the world.

Water dropping from a huge stone

Fallen stone tower

The alligator mouth stone

     Some stones are straight and tall but rough. Others are curvy, smooth and short. Each has a unique specialty. The Stones have shapes of animals and people. There are elephants, camels, and many others that you can imagine.



The heart and lungs stone 狼心狗肺石

 

Traditional Sani People dancing

View from a tower

View of Big Shilin

View from stairs

Ashima,
a beautiful Sani girl

Ashima

     There are many stories about the Stone Forest. The most famous one is about a Sani girl called Ashima. Here is the story of it. Ashima was a beautiful Sani girl. She was kidnaped by the son of a evil landlord. Ashima was forced to marry the kidnaper. Her boyfriend Ahei saved her in time. The evil landlord and Ahei had a singing contest. Ahei won and brought Ashima home. On their way back home, they encountered a huge flood. Ahei climbed to a tree for safety, forgetting Ashima. Ashima drowned and became a rock, watching over the surrounding land and people. The name Ashima means "as bright and precious as gold." You can find Ashima in the Minor Stone Forest. It is a very tall stone that looked like a Sani village girl.

Minor Stone Forest

Minor Stone Forest

     That's about all the history I know about the Stone Forest. When you visit, you might even know more than me.

Camel stone (hard to see)