Going to Yunnan had long been my dream, but after the early spring's SARS outbreak in the country this dream had been delayed. So you can imagine the look on my face when I was told that in a few days we were going to see the legendary Ah Shima, which is what local Yi ethnic girls in Yunnan are called.
The moment my feet stepped onto Kunming airport, I could feel my body boil with excitement; with all the moistures in the air, I was already wet. I could have carried a lighter luggage I said to myself as I caught one or two mosquitoes flying around.
Having already visited places such as Sydney and New York City, I was now enchanted by the distinctive lifestyles of smaller cities. After living in the capital, Beijing, most of my life, I craved an escape from the busy metropolitan centre. So here I was, ready to see a quieter country life in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan where the 1999 world expo was held.
The first night spent in Kunming was quite an experience. After settling down in a hotel uptown, a small group of us decided to take an adventure and sample the nightlife of the city. A taxi brought us to a night market called Kundu, where we had our first fancy tour in Yunnan. The atmosphere reminded me of the hustle and bustle of the Sanlitun bar street in Beijing, only here it was even busier with live bands playing open-air and yummy barbecues sizzling right in our faces. I guess the city of Kunming really knows how to impress its starving guests.
The daylight in Kunming is very strong, which explains why local people often wear a tan. But the day we come to the stone forest the sun is way too generous to content our cameras.
Lies some 120 kilometers southeast of Kunming, Shilin or stone forest is a region of typical karst landscape. I was amazed to find out this rather maze-like rock mass was a shallow sea some 270 million years ago. Extensive deposits of sandstone overlain by limestone accumulated in this basin during the Permian period of geologic time. I must say nature is the greatest craftsman ever, and surrounded by its rock masterpieces I feel so small.
