1993 Thursday 30th September Stone Forest
We were up at 7 am to have a buffet breakfast at the hotel where there was a good selection of Chinese and Western food to choose from, including chips. After breakfast we went outside to check on the weather conditions and particularly the air temperature, for our journey to the Stone Forest,
and in the lobby we met Chen talking to two businessmen. The air outside the hotel was very cool and it is said that the weather in Kunming is very 'temperate' compared with the rest of China, that is why the city is so popular with visitors. We went back to our room to fetch cameras and bag, then down to reception for a safety box, but they were all in use, so it was a case of taking all our money and cheques with us. We left Kunming by car for the 1 hour 45 minutes drive to the Stone Forest on a new road, completed in 1991. This road was part motorway so toll fees where paid on two sections. The old road to the Stone Forest would have meant a difficult journey of four hours; so 'hurrah !' for motorways!
We saw many changes in the landscape during our journey, including round top mountains, flat cultivated fields, sheer rock faced mountains, a variety of vegetables growing in small plots, and fields of sunflowers, just like the fields of sunflowers in France. Parts of the road were lined with silver leafed eucalyptist trees that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. At one road junction a new fly-over was under construction, supported with bamboo scaffolding. There was only one mechanical shovel but plenty of manual labour using picks and shovels and two-wheeled carts. Chen said that the old rail link between Kunming and Hanoi, built by the French many years ago, twists along, over and through the mountains, but now only goes as far as the Vietnamese border. A new rail link between Kunming and Nanning was under construction. Gaping tunnel entrances high up on the mountains could be seen either side of a valley, with massive concrete pillars in place ready to carry a link line between them. Completion of this rail line was expected in 1996.
There were many things to attract our attention during our journey to the Stone Forest. Smoke belching from the tall chimney of a coal fired power station, built by the Russians in 1956, drifted down a valley we were passing through. In a village, a six seater pony cart taxi, with red covered seats and sun roof, was operating on the streets. A horse-shoe road at the end of a valley, gave us a panoramic view between two mountains. Narrow terraced paddy fields with their crops of ripening rice, looked like a tiered cake. We drove past a holiday village like 'Butlins' near a lake, and then many miniature 'stone forests' as we came near to the main area.
When we arrived at the Stone Forest site, Chen and Sheng left the car and went to hire a guide from a group standing at the roadside. Sheng chose a pretty girl dressed in traditional costume of the Sani tribe, and so Sheng and I followed the guide through the entrance gate to the Stone Forest site. Sheng has a photograph taken dressed up in a red jacket and cape, a hat with a tall feather, whilst holding a battle sword. The guide stops at various places to give an explanation and story about a particular rock; Sheng gives me a brief translation. One story of a rock in the shape of an elephant, was said to be a baby of the stone elephant in Guilin, but who had become lost in the Stone Forest. We stoop to climb a flight of steps through a narrow gap in the rocks, and it was said that if your clothes did not touch the rocks, you were assured of a long life. There was a rock in the forest that rang like a bell when tapped with a small rock. Guides meeting in a small echo chamber, sang a song together to prove their claim. Our guide taught Sheng a love song, that he then sang with his own words; other Chinese visitors nearby cheered and clapped at the end of his performance. We climb up steps and path, all very slippery after an earlier rain shower, to get an eye-level view of the rock peaks. Our last interest site was the Lake Of Ashima.
A large upright rock by the side of the lake was said to be Ashima, who was swept away from her lover Ahei, by a flood released by a jealous and wicked magician.
We then left the site to go to the Forest Hotel Restaurant for our lunch, our guide declining our invitation to join us, so we said our goodbyes. Our lunch included toasted pieces of goat's cheese, plus five other dishes and steamed rice. Our driver had a good appetite and ate four bowls of rice, before we left the restaurant for our return journey to Kunming. As we neared some roadside restaurants, where ducks were being roasted in ovens on the pavement, waiters stepped into the road waving at us to stop for a meal!
At another part of the road we came across an accident between a car and a woman on a bike; the red patches on the road were not her blood, but some of the doufou she was carrying. A man crouched on top of one of the roadside pillars seemingly just to watch the world pass by. Where parts of the road were being widened, the excavations exposed the red earth being several metres thick. The land was very fertile producing year-round vegetable crops in a very mild climate. Rain-eroded land with deep gullies now closely planted with young trees; it was said that China planted several millions of trees each year. In some areas the farmers were harvesting their rice crops.
Chen and the driver left us at the hotel but Chen said he would return later with some Moon Cakes. Our room seemed cold after our visit to the Stone Forest, so eiderdowns were grabbed for a late siesta. Later we went to a Cantonese restaurant for supper, and were shown to a two seater booth, mirror-walled. The waitress brought free 'Moon Cakes' to the table. After the meal we strolled back to the hotel to find free Moon Cakes and Apples in our room. Chen arrived 9-30pm bringing two bottles of Qingdao Beer, 2 cooked corncobs, a bag of boiled chestnuts and peanuts, four Moon Cakes, and a gift of a handmade miniature tea pot and stand. We have a 'Moon Feast' together then Chen gives us entrance tickets for the 'Minorities Park', which Sheng and I will visit the following day.
After Chen leaves, Sheng watches TV, but it is early bedtime for me!
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