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The beginning of my Yunnan Dream
 Updated:2018-12-29 10:13:47    

Corn drying on rooftops Seven Star Village 1999. [Photo by Bruce Connolly/chinadaily.com.cn]

On one occasion heading to the Stone Forest I visited a compact agricultural village of low-rise mostly adobe-walled buildings nestling around a small lake. Qixingcun or Seven Star Village when compared to Kunming felt like going back in time. It was particularly scenic and I enjoyed meeting the people from the Sani ethnic nationality who live around the Stone Forest area. The Sani are related to the Yi people. Mature corn cobs had just been harvested, some hanging from wooden drying frames. Below a pole holding strings of red peppers, more cobs were spread across flat rooftops. It was lunchtime and children were returning home from a local elementary school, however meeting me some gathered on stone steps, trying to have a conversation.

Today the Stone Forest (Shilin) is one of the most popular tourist destinations around Kunming. Indeed its uniqueness has been recognized since the Ming Dynasty. Composed of highly weathered limestone rock it formed over 270 million years ago during the Carboniferous Period of the Paleozoic Era. Within the shallow tropical seas that once covered that area, the skeletal remains of millions, indeed trillions, of sea creatures sank to the sea floor. Over time as more and more shells and bones gathered, the pressure compressed everything into carboniferous rock.

Manfeilong Pagoda at Yunnan Nationalities Village Kunming 1998. [Photo by Bruce Connolly/chinadaily.com.cn]

Yunnan is an area of considerable geological activity that has caused the land to gradually rise. This would lead to seawater slowly flowing away as the land eventually rose above sea level. The exposed rock, limestone, was very vulnerable to a process known as weathering, particularly by rain, which is slightly acidic. The bare surfaces also were exposed to strong sunlight and wind, all of which helped break down the limestone into the quite distinctive karst landscape seen today. Its pinnacles resemble stalagmites, at times resembling trees, giving the illusion of a forest formed from stone. It has created a quite dramatic landscape through which walkways and steps have been laid to allow visitors safe access. The area is vast, encompassing over 350 square kilometers, featuring several distinctive physical zones. Apart from the popular main Stone Forest area there are smaller examples along with lakes, waterfalls, and subterranean caves featuring many classic geological textbook features. Since 2007 two areas have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites as part of the South China karst landscape. As a geographer bringing British people interested in the subject, it was a place we could have easily spent considerable more time studying and learning of its complex geology.

Many Sani people live around the area, not only running souvenir stalls but retaining long-held traditional legends of Shilin, while celebrating their unique Torch Festival there every lunar year on June 24.

Kunming proved to be a very interesting city both to visit and explore, indeed every visit would reveal more to me such as the Provincial Museum. However, more lifelong memories awaited as the next day I would be setting off on exciting travels such as in 1995, north to Dali and Lijiang – all part of my Yunnan Dream.

Editor: Wang Shixue