A young tour guide of the local Yi nationality, wearing a traditional dress of her people.  In a way, the Stone Forest is a theme park.  The entrance and much of the park itself are well manicured, dotted with dozens of gift shops and restaurants catering primarily to the thousands of Chinese tourists who visit every day.  Still, this makes for a great day trip from Kunming.

The Stone Forest actually covers many square miles, but the 200-acre section open to tourists has the largest stone formations, such as these.  Thousands of years of water and soil erosion created the limestone formations; at one time millions of years ago, this area was underwater.

Even the Yi gardeners in the park wear their colorful native dress.  The local population is from the Sani branch of the Yi people, and many of them work in the park.

The limestone formations tower as high as 100 feet.  Outside the park, the formations are typically only a few feet high, scattered haphazardly through miles of open fields.

The stones seem to grow out of the ground along with the trees.

The northeastern “minor” section of the park here is smaller and less rugged than the major section shown in the previous pictures.  It’s also less crowded and more pleasant for long walks.