The Stone Forest

        The Stone Forest is in the Lunan Yi Nationality Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. It covers an area of 2,670 square kilometers and is divided into several scenic areas with names like Greater Stone Forest, Lesser Stone forest, Outer Stone Forest, Underground Stone Forest, Stone Forest Lake, and Da Dieshui Fall. The Stone Forest was formed by karst two million to thirty million years ago. The Forest was contains peaks, pillars, stalagmites, depressions, underground rivers, and caves. The fantastic stone pinnacles rising abruptly from the ground resemble a huge, dense forest. Many of the stone pinnacles are associated with legends. In the Lesser Stone Forest, there is one pinnacle that resembles a slim and beautiful girl. Seen in silhouette with another stone formation, the girl appears to be carrying a basket on her back. This is the famous Ashma, heroine of an epic poem popular among the Sani people. According to the legend, Ashma, a Sani girl, refusing to be married to the landlord Rebubala, fought against the landlord and his men with her true love Ahei. They finally ran away from the landlord and came to the Stone Forest. But ganging up with the stone demon, Rebubala summoned up a flood and drowned Ashma, who then turned into the stone peak.
 

        The origin of the Stone Forest is also the subject of an old legend. Long, long ago, in an attempt to flood the farmland of Lunan, the evil monster Asabe used his magic whip to drive a group of stone pinnacles to a place where they would obstruct the current of the Nanpan River. A hero of the Sani people, on hearing the news, rushed to the spot and fought the monster. Asabe was finally defeated and had to flee, leaving behind him the pinnacles that still bore the scars of his whip. These became the Stone Forest.

Yunnan Wild Animal Park

        The park is divided into 2 parts, bus visiting area and walking area. During the visiting, you can relax as sitting on the lawn, among the pigeons in square, feeling the long time no seeing cloud, drinking with friends in the restaurant. You can also enjoy the big show between human and beast in the animal showing place, where all kinds of animal showing, beast training show, the exciting show with the tiger, lion and elephant will leave you a very deep impression. Another pastime for visitors is "fishing" for tigers, lions, bears and wolves. Visitors can rent a bamboo fishing pole with a slab of meat dangling from the end that is supposed to be lowered into the animal area below, where hungry animals await.

        Yunnan Wild Animal Park (YWAP) is located in Golden Palace Forest Park, 10 kilometers northeast of the Kunming downtown, and covering an area of 2 square kilometers (0.772 square miles). 150 millions Yuan was invested in this park and the park was opened to the public on July. 4, 2004. YWAP is one of the biggest wild animal parks in China. More than 200 kinds representative and rare animals from the world are collected in YWAP, and the number of animals is about 18,000, such as elephant, Bangladesh tiger, leaf monkey, gibbon, black tail python, lesser panda and brown neck hornbill, peacock and so on, as well as national prior protected giant panda, northeast tiger, red-crowned crane and Yangtze alligator.