Out of the red earth of eastern Yunnan, about eighty kilometres south-east of Kunming, rise the grey stone pinnacles of the Shilin, the Stone Forest, a landscape of limestone that looks like a petrified woodland. The rock was laid down as sediment in a shallow sea around two hundred and seventy million years ago, and then raised, split and carved by rain into towers up to thirty metres high, with sharp ridges and narrow alleys in between. The Naigu area is the older, blacker part, where the stone has been darkened by lichens and weathering, and it is quieter than the main tourist area. The Shilin karst is part of the South China Karst, which UNESCO listed in 2007.
The Stone Forest is also the homeland of the Sani, a branch of the Yi people, who are known for their colourful embroidered costumes, their songs and a legend of a girl named Ashima. According to the story, Ashima was a beautiful and clever girl who was kidnapped by a rich man's son, and she was rescued by her lover, but a flood separated them, and she was turned into a stone pillar in the forest, still waiting. The Sani also celebrate the Torch Festival in summer, a night of bonfires, wrestling and dancing.
Visiting requires some stamina: the paths wind between the stones, up steps and through narrow gaps, and the main parts can be very crowded. Naigu is calmer and has a boardwalk and shaded paths, and the best light is in the early morning or late afternoon, when the stone glows. Yunnan's climate is gentle, with spring-like weather much of the year at about 1,800 metres, though rain falls in summer.
An honest note about riding: bringing a foreign motorbike into China requires special permits, local registration and, in practice, a guide, so most visitors reach Shilin by bus or car from Kunming on the expressway. The roads are excellent and fuel is easy to find in Shilin, a town of about fifty-five thousand people. The local specialities include rice noodles served in a hot broth, grilled goat cheese, and wild mushrooms, which are famous in Yunnan, along with tea and pu'er cakes. Stay for a Sani song performance in the evening if you can, as it gives the stones a human voice.