Yunnan Stone Forest
3 min readThe Stone Forest is located89 kilometers to the southeast of Kunming，and belongs to Shilin Yi Autonomous County.It is the most picturesqueand the No.1 in the world in terms of its distribution，area coverage and clint magnitude.The Stone Forest Scenic Area covers an area of350 square kilometers and consists of 7 parts:Liziqing Stone Forest，Naigu Stone Forest，Dadieshui Waterfall，Changhu Lake，Yuehu Lake，Zhiyun Cave and Qifeng Cave，and Big Stone Forest and Small Stone Forest.It was listed as the World Natural Heritage site on 27th of June，2007 by UNESCO.
The Big Stone Forest is compared to a strong man.It is the earliest part opened for tourism，and features clusters of giant gray-black stone peaks，stone columns and stone swords with their tips pointing towards the blue sky like a boundless forest，thus the name”Stone Forest”.Its main sites include such scenes as the Wonderful Scene of the Stone Forest，A Critical Moment，Lotus Peak，Sword Peak Pool，Two Bird Feeding Each other，and Peak Observing Pavilion，etc.
Unlike the scenes of Big Stone Forests，the scenery of small Stone Forest is characterized by smaller and less imposing peaks and rocks.Many Chinese filmsand TV dramas were filmed here.Beside the Jade Bird Pool，there is a tall peak looking like a beautiful Sani girl with a bamboo basket on her back，she is looking at the distance.This is the well-known Ashima which means”a girl as beautiful as gold”in the Yi language.Legend has it that:In a beautiful land named Azhuodi，Ashima was as beautiful as the camellia and as bright as sun in the morning glow.A brutal rich man named Rebubala forced Ashima to goand marry his son-Azhi.Her brother Ahei rescued her after overcoming all kinds of difficulties.But when they reached the Stone Forest area，they were rolled away by flood made by Rebubala and a fiend.After the flood receded Ashima became a stone statue standing high beside the Jade Bird Pool ofthe Small Stone Forest.The Sani people believe that Ashima will bring happiness，longevity and love to every visitor.
The Naigu Stone Forest，10 kilometers northeast of the Liziqing Stone Forest，covers 7.83 square kilometers.”Naigu”is a Yi word which means”black and primitive”.Thus the Naigu Stone Forest means literally the Black Stone Forest.The main spots of this stone forest are Meeting between Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai，the Meeting Platform for Immortals，Watching above Peaks and A Forest of One Stone.
Reqarded as the”First Waterfall ofPearl River”，Dadieshui or Grand Waterfall is located at southwest border of the Shilin County.Bajiang River，after winding its way for more than 30 kilometres through Lunan basin and a narrow gorge shortly before the waterfall，plunges down an uplift clifftojoin Nanpan River，one ofthe main tributaries of upper reaches of Pearl River，originating a spectacular waterfall.The Grand Waterfall is nearly90 meters high and about70 meters wide，plunging water that generates gigantic mist and deafening voice.It has long been an attraction for people to enjoy the natural splendor.
