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The
world-famous Stone Forest lies within Shilin Yi Autonomous County. The forest
is a special type of limestone formation known as karst. Some 270 million
years ago the area was submerged and a thick layer of limestone deposited
on the bottom. The movement of the earth's crust caused the sea bottom to
thrust upward and became land, and through weathering and erosion, the stone
was molded into pillars. From a distance, it looks indeed like a dense forest;
hence the name of Stone Forest.
Known as the "Number One Grand Spectacle on Earth",
it has an area of 27,000 hectares. The main scenic area that has been
developed covers only an area of 80 hectares with trails of just over
5,000 meters. As a myriad of pinnacles, they are of fanciful shapes taxing
the imagination.
The moment a tourist enters the forest, one miraculous
view after another will catch his eyes. Countless stone peaks seem to
have sprung from the ground assuming a thousand different shapes, all
fanciful and picturesque, as if vying with each other in their sublimity
and grandeur. Some look like bamboo sheets and pillars, some resemble
swords piercing the sky, while others, being in pairs, suggest young couples
happy in reunion or sad at parting, or mother and child strolling side
by side. Still others seem to be hanging by a hair, with momentary threat
of crashing down. Walking along the trains in the midst of these forbidding
stones, one can't help having an awe-struck feeling, which, however, is
somewhat relived by the pretty fountains and elegant bridges. Sometimes
a wonderful view will burst upon his sight where it is least expected.
Finally, one may also visualize, as if in a dream, most different things,
depending on what time of the year and what time of the day it happens
to be, and furthermore, on how the slant of sunlight is and what angle
one takes
Entry fee: 50 yuan
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