Stone Forest, Kunming

Long drive by bus to start off this morning as the Stone forest is about 120km south east of Kunming. The forest was very interesting but very much a tourist spot. All the paths were paved, not our idea of a national park.

Once again there were peddlers and photo opportunities if you wanted to dress up in national dress. The Yi minority live in this area.
The stones were quite intriguing with some very strange shapes. The Chinese of course like to 'use imagination' and make the shapes into cats, elephants, etc but I was content to enjoy the strangeness of the landscape.

There was of course the 'legends' and we all sat on this stone bed for 3 seconds for good luck. Not good for the bum!!
The surrounding parklands were superb and I particularly loved the Japanese Maples. There was a pond and as I walked past a lady was feeding the fish which resulted in a boiling of the waters, I couldn't believe the amount of fish.

Lunch was probably our worst meal this trip but the wallpaper was superb, might get some for my bedroom, keep me awake I think :)

Called in at a crystal place, more "shopping opportunities" before having tea and going to a professional ethnic show. The show is going to tour the USA. It was excellent, lots of very loud drum music and dancing. This included a peacock dance by a lady our local guide, Tessie, thought was very old (48).