China Daily | Updated: 2009-06-11 08:10

If you can visit only one place in Kunming, let it be Shilin, or Stone Forest. It's actually located in a neighboring county, but just an hour's drive on the highway.

The whole province of Yunnan is perfect for people of benevolence. (Remember the Chinese saying the benevolent love the mountains?) And the Stone Forest is for the extremely big-hearted. As the name implies, it is a forest made up of stone. Not just regular stones, but stones shaped like trees, bamboo shoots, glaciers and knives, the kind of rockery usually seen in a bonsai garden, but enlarged. So, I call it "God's bonsai".

Administratively, Shilin covers an area of 1716 km2, but fortunately the scenic area is more concentrated and easily accessible by foot. In an area called "Minor Stone Forest" with sprawling meadows, across from a pond, stands one peak with a shorter one right next to it. This is the famous Ashima Rock. Ashima (no relation of the Hebrew deity of the same name) is a girl in a local Sani legend. She falls in love with a handsome boy, but their romance is wrecked by a local despot.

For more information:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2009-06/11/content_8270712.htm