Stone Forest
Stone Forest, also known as Shilin, is a famous group of tall limestone rocks in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan, China. It covers about 500 square kilometers and sits about 90 kilometers east of Kunming, the provincial capital. The rocks rise like a forest of stone, many resembling petrified trees, which is how the place got its name.
In 2007, two parts of the site, Naigu Stone Forest and Suogeyi Village, were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites as part of the South China Karst. The area is a top tourist destination, rated AAAAA, and the nearby Shilin National Scenic Area covers around 400 square kilometers with several scenic sections.
How it formed: the rocks are limestone and dolomite that formed more than 270 million years ago when the area was a shallow sea. Over millions of years, uplift and erosion carved the rocks into many tall pillars, creating the look of a stone forest.
The Major Stone Forest and the Minor Stone Forest lie in limestone from the Makou Formation, while the nearby Naigu Stone Forest sits in dolomitic rocks from the Qixia Formation. All are from the early Permian period.
In Yi legend, the forest is the birthplace of Ashima, a beautiful girl who turned into a stone in the forest after a forbidden love. Today, the Yi people celebrate the Torch Festival on the 24th day of the sixth lunar month with dances and wrestling.
Many visitors come from Kunming by bus, and there are hotels in the area to accommodate them.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:21 (CET).