The Stone Forest in Kunming and the History Behind Its Beauty
If you visit Kunming - China, a must-visit tourist spot is the Stone Forest, which is located a bit on the outskirts of Kunming city, in the Shilin area to be exact. The forest is quite extensive and the arrangement of the stones is very unique. (Wikipedia.org)
In addition to being famous for the Great Wall of China, worship temples with distinctive architecture and traditional markets, it turns out that China still has other excellent tourist destinations that are no less interesting.
China has interesting tourist destinations that were formed because of natural phenomena that are not found in many other places. The phenomenon is a forest that is not overgrown with trees, but rocks.
The rock forest in southern China has been designated by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site. People call the rock forest Shilin. The forest itself is located in the Shilin Yi Autonomous Region, Yunnan Province, or about 120 kilometers from Kunming Province.
It is called a forest because the rocks in this area resemble the tall trees that thrive in the forest. I don't know how many stones stand firmly here, creating the illusion of a forest. It is said that this stone forest has existed since 270 years ago.
The local people believe that these stones were created by the gods by splitting the mountain. In the past, this place was also used as a place for couples to stay. Because of that, they believe that the couple who visit this forest will have a long life in their relationship.
This forest of stone trees is embedded in an area of 80 hectares and is formed from wind and water erosion since hundreds of years ago. This forest has another interesting part, namely Bright Summit Park or sunny peaks.
History of Forest Stone
Kunming Stone Forest covers an area of 400 km2 in total with a collection of limestone rock formations that rise upwards, resembling stalagmites.
This place also has a local history that mentions Ashima, a beautiful woman from the Sani tribe, Yi Chinese ethnicity. This legend tells of a story in ancient times.
A man named Azhi, the son of the village head of Shilin falls in love with Ashima who is famous for her beauty, but her love is unrequited because Ashima already has a lover named Ahei. Azhi also challenges Ahei in a singing competition for 3 days and 3 nights and he loses so he has to let Ashima go.
It turned out that Azhi was dissatisfied with the result so he summoned a flood that caused Ashima to be carried away and turned into one of the rock formations here called Ashima Rock. It is said that this rock formation resembles Ashima in his traditional clothes and head covering.
Since starting to enter the area, the towering karst rock formations are visible at the beginning. It's unique to see a collection of rock formations that look sharp and towering in this row. According to theory, this Stone Forest is over 200 million years old.
Exploring this tourist area, is usually done by walking along a stone path that has been prepared well. You will find a position below where you can feel surrounded by rock formation walls, then take turns going down where you feel at the bottom of a valley and going up where you will get a better unique view where the rock formations stretch lime is widely visible, appealing to the taste.
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