One hours drive east of Kunming is the amazing Stone Forest of Shilin, where strangely shaped limestone rocks cover a protected area of 500 km2. Shilin is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007

and a major tourist attraction that can become very crowded. 

 

The strangely shaped stones are remnants of limestone deposits in an ancient shallow sea. When the water faded, erosion took its toll and created this natural wonder of karst formations.

 

The forest features impressive waterfalls and caves, but most tourists stick to a walking tour through the most scenic part.

You will encounter a couple of lakes with, weather permitting, nice reflections of the towering stones.

 

Neolithic people were already impressed and left several paintings and inscriptions on the stones and successive generations happily followed suit.

 

We visited Shilin in August 2005.