A visit to Stone Forest is a must if you travel to Kun Ming, Yunnan. The Stone Forest is located in Lunan Yi Nationality Autonomous County, which is about 100 kilometers from Kunming and requires only a three-hour drive by bus. It covers an area of 400 square kilometers and includes both large and small stone forests, as well as many other scenic spots.

We were there early in the morning at 8:00am and the local guide is a girl from Yi minority race. The guide is required by China government to wear their colourful costumes. The sky was cloudy and the weather was cold and we enjoy walking for nearly 2 hours seeing many piece of magnificiant stone which was once part of the sea some 270 million years ago.

Geologists say the Stone Forest is a typical example of karsts topography. Approximately 270 million years ago – during the carboniferous period of the Paleozoic era – the region was a vast expanse of sea. Over time, the movements of the lithosphere gradually caused a retreat of the waters and the rise of the limestone landscape. Due to constant erosion by the elements, the area finally developed into the present-day Stone Forest.

An old local saying says that “If you have visited Kunming without seeing the Stone Forest, you have wasted your time.” Truly, the Stone Forest is one of the most important attractions of Yunnan