Passing Through the World - ALWAYS ON THE WAY
As a child, my favorite thing was flipping through the family photo album, studying where my parents had been. One photo stood out — a group shot with the words "Stone Forest" written on a backdrop of strange peaks and bizarre rocks. This Yunnan trip included a few extra days around Kunming. The Stone Forest Scenic Area is located in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Kunming. It's about 90 kilometers from Fuxian Lake to Stone Forest — a smooth journey, though the weather was less than ideal, somewhat overcast. But plateau weather is unpredictable, and I kept hoping for sudden sunshine. As bad luck would have it, right after we bought tickets and boarded the shuttle bus, rain started pouring down. By the time we reached the ticket checkpoint, the rain hadn't lessened — it only grew heavier. Worst of all, we had no umbrella.
I had hoped to wait out the rain, but it was pouring. We only had this half-day at Stone Forest, and the tickets weren't cheap — 400 RMB for 2 adults and 1 child including round-trip shuttle. Just as we were feeling dejected, Brother Dong ran toward a crowd about ten meters away and quickly bought disposable raincoats. Fortunately, the price was reasonable at 10 RMB each. We awkwardly donned our raincoats and entered sightseeing mode.
The Stone Forest Scenic Area boasts the world's largest sword-shaped karst geological landscape,享有 the reputation of "Essence of World Karst," "The Greatest Wonder Under Heaven," and "Natural Museum of Sculptural Landforms." In 2007, as an important component of "South China Karst," it was inscribed on the World Natural Heritage list.
With so many titles, I couldn't help but lament: "Stone Forest is so unique, but exploring it in the rain." The next second, I thought: "Since we're here, let's make the best of it. Rain touring will be more memorable, and if needed, we can always come again."
When visiting Stone Forest, you must do your homework (see the science section at the end). Otherwise, even among the bizarre rocks of this "Greatest Wonder Under Heaven," you'll experience visual and aesthetic fatigue — feeling that not coming to Stone Forest is a regret, but coming is an even bigger one.
The Stone Forest karst area covers over 1,100 square kilometers, with a protection zone of 350 square kilometers — truly vast. The main scenic areas include the Stone Forest Scenic Area, Naigu Stone Forest Scenic Area, Dadieshui Scenic Area, Changhu Scenic Area, and Guishan National Forest Park. The Stone Forest Scenic Area is the most famous, composed of five sections: Greater Stone Forest, Lesser Stone Forest, Ten-Thousand-Year Lingzhi, Lizi Garden Hollow, and Bushaoshan. Our tour began at the Greater Stone Forest.
The Greater Stone Forest consists of dense stone peaks, like a stone basin. These sword-shaped stone columns stand upright, reaching for the sky. The tallest independent column exceeds 40 meters in height — breathtaking. It's impossible to imagine how bizarre and extraordinary the shapes of these columns are. We wandered through the stone forest maze. When the rain was heaviest, we ducked into a stone cave for shelter. Rain fell from all sides, forming an endless curtain of water, and we felt as if we were in a karst Water Curtain Cave. The child was delighted — even rain touring had its own charm.
After about half an hour of exploring, our shoes were already waterlogged. At one turn, the famous inscription "Stone Forest" appeared before our eyes. I took out my phone to photograph it, turned around, and saw blue sky and white clouds behind us — the heavens were kind! Soon, the sky above was clear, sunlight streaming through, yet raindrops were still falling — what magical weather.
Following the tour route, we continued weaving through the stone forest maze, sometimes climbing high, sometimes descending. In the face of nature's extraordinary craftsmanship, I was at a loss for words.
Finally, we climbed Wangfeng Pavilion for a 360-degree view of the "Stone Forest Sea." (P.S. This is also the best photo spot.)
Then we went to the Lesser Stone Forest, passing through a beautiful landscape. Unlike the dense, grand, bizarre, and perilous Greater Stone Forest, the Lesser Stone Forest is more spacious and elegant. The most famous feature here is the "Ashima" stone.
Everyone knows the story of Ashima. This tragic love story is also a representative of the Sani culture created by the Yi Sani people who have lived and thrived on this land for generations — "can bend but cannot break."
After touring the Lesser Stone Forest, the sky darkened and a fine drizzle began again. I found myself secretly glad. Did I regret coming to Stone Forest? Not really — after all, visiting in the off-season meant fewer crowds and a much better experience. So if you want to enjoy Stone Forest happily, consider avoiding peak season.
Special Reminder: Stone Forest Scenic Area ticket information below. Purchasing one day in advance (same-day purchase not available) on platforms like Ctrip offers discounts. No discounts at the scenic area box office.
About Stone Forest - What You Should Know
The Yunnan Stone Forest records a unique chapter of geomorphological evolution in Earth's history. About 270 million years ago, the Stone Forest was a vast ocean. Through a long and complex geological evolution, it formed the precious geological relics we see today.
The main feature of the Stone Forest's geological heritage is rock columns formed from limestone and other rocks, with diverse shapes and wide distribution. Many columns resemble trees in a forest, hence the name "Stone Forest." The Stone Forest is world-renowned for its tall columns, diverse above-ground solution features, and multi-colored below-ground solution features. These columns generally rise from the ground, with heights between 10 and 30 meters. Tall sword-shaped, columnar, conical, tower-shaped, and mushroom-shaped columns are representative of the Stone Forest karst landforms.
The Stone Forest's forms are complex, diverse, and well-developed, with a long formation history. It develops together with other karst features such as stone teeth, dissolution hills, depressions, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, and caves, combining to form various plateau karst landform types.
In certain layers of the Stone Forest rocks, there are abundant bioclastic fragments. Particularly in the carbonate rocks of the Qixia and Maokou formations, there are numerous fossils of crinoids, gastropods, and brachiopods. These paleontological fossils have not only important ornamental and aesthetic value but also extremely high scientific research value.
