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Stone Forest

Limestone pillars resembling a petrified forest in Yunnan, China.

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The Stone Forest is a landscape of tall limestone pillars that resemble petrified trees, creating the illusion of a stone forest.[1] As part of the South China Karst, the Naigu Stone Forest and Suogeyi Village have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2007.[1]

Quick Facts

Location
Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan, China
Area
Approximately 500 km²
Unesco designation
Since 2007 (part of South China Karst)
Classification
AAAAA-class tourist site
Distance from kunming
Approximately 90 km (56 mi) east

Facts from the source article.

Geography and history

The formations are believed to be over 270 million years old.[2] The Yi people’s legend says the forest is the birthplace of Ashima, a beautiful girl.[3] Roughly 270 million years ago, the region that is now the Stone Forest was covered by a shallow sea.[4] After those materials were laid down, the land was pushed upward.[4]

The limestone pillars were later sculpted by the action of wind and flowing water.[4] Yi people hold the Torch Festival annually on the 24th day of the sixth lunar month, featuring folk dances and wrestling.[3]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Stone Forest" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Twenty-two new sites inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List, and one deleted during Committee meeting in Christchurch", UNESCO World Heritage Convention, June 29, 2007; Chris Ryan, Gu Huimin and Fang Meng, "Tourism in China: Destination, Cultures and Communities", Taylor & Francis, 2009, p. 11–37 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Stone Forest" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stone Forest from travelchinayunnan.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Stone Forest" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The legend of Ashima (阿诗玛的传说)", Yunnan Provincial Government Website, April 26, 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Stone Forest" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Geoscience Resources" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Stone Forest (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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