Stoned Forest, Far Out Man

Sorry, another 60's flashback. That would be the Stone Forest.  


When informing some of our more China savvy colleagues about China's sudden decision to close Tibet and the addition of Yunnan to our travel itinerary to fill that void, we were informed that Yunnan was the home of China's cannabis industry. So Stoned Forest seemed like  the logical place to go and explore. The forest is the "#1, must go to" place if you are visiting Kunming.








As reported by the International Hemp Association of Amsterdam, Netherlands, "Yunnan Province, in the southwest of the People's Republic of China, bordering Myanmar (Burma), Laos and Vietnam, is home to many of China's minority nationalities. Although the Han majority have largely given up hemp usage in daily life, several of Yunnan's minority ethnic groups continue to use hemp for both fiber and food. However, there is very little consumption of Cannabis products for recreational purposes by either resident Chinese or visitors.Despite these facts, the Yunnan provincial government has instigated policies that confuse drug Cannabis ("marijuana") with industrial hemp. Since the spring of 1998, the growing of Cannabis for any reason has been prohibited, although Cannabis still flourishes in most parts of Yunnan. Confusion continues." 
 
What we found at the Stone Forest was a beautiful park filled with the coolest limestone karst formations that we will remember for the rest or our lives and the munchies. Did I mention the munchies? Maybe flashbacks again, but I couldn't stop thinking of food while we spent hours wandering, climbing and admiring Mother Nature's own creations. One karst looked like a ice cream cone, another a carrot while several looked like medium rare t-bone steaks smothered in mushrooms and fried onions, with a baked potato and vegetable de jour on the side.  Did I mention we had the munchies?

Our next stop was Dragon Gate, a Buddhist site that clings to the side of a 2,000 foot cliff. Built in 1781, it has successfully withstood wind, rain and the odd earthquake. Anyone with acrophobia, claustrophobia, bathmophobia, cremnophobia, iconophobia, seismophobia, agoraphobia and sinophobia should think twice before visiting this very high (not to be confused with "a high") scenic spot.







Our trip to Dragon Gate involved a 10 minute chairlift ride to the start of the 700 feet climb on skinny little trails, carved out of the cliff. Along the way, were areas to stop and commune with your god or Buddha or just to enjoy the view of Kunming and Dian Lake. If a trail wasn't possible then a tunnel was cut through the cliff.  At the top, was a cool and quiet grotto which we did not see as the lines were too long. There were lots of tourists that day. We made the mistake of sitting down at one of the benches carved out of the cliff. As we sat, we were approached by a young Chinese girl asking to have our picture taken with her. Within a minute we had a lineup of Chinese families wanting to take a picture with us. We had to cut them off after 20 minutes as we still had one more stop before our day was over.



Our last stop was a seudo minority village containing examples of the village housing and living conditions of the 25 minorities currently listed in Yunan. We were outta there in under 30 minutes. Nuff said.

This is our last stop before we leave China for the second time and we are safe to say, not the last time.

Shangri La Since 2001

Shangri La, a mythical place first described in the novel Lost Horizons. To quote Wikipedia, Shangri La is " a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery". Our Shangri La is formally known as "The Shangri La Ecological Tourism Zone" and was created and renamed Shangri La in 2002 by the central government in hopes of spurring tourism to the area. It seems this clever marketing ploy has worked as Chinese tourism has increased a bazillion times since 2002. Even a few foreigners (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) are attracted. It does sort of meet the qualifications as it is located in a "mystical valley". (Their words, not mine)


It has the requisite lamasery. The Gedan Songzanlin Monastery (Guihua Monastery) is a centuries old monastery located on the outskirts of town. An operating Tibetan monastery, it has been basically rebuilt in the last two decades although the knickknacks have been around for four or five hundred years. They estimate about 700 monks live on the premises. It is claimed that at one time there were over 3,000 monks living in residence. If it is any consolation , at least the monks living accommodations look to be around 300 or 400 years old. The monks were very busy marketing Buddha the day of our visit, with visitors streaming through the place buying charms, prayer beads, images, incense as well as filling the donation boxes. Buddhism seems to be a growth industry in Shangri La. But with a name like that, how can it not do well?


Meet some of the harmonious inhabitants of Shangri La. These folks are Tibetan but there are over 25 ethnic minorities in Yunnan. To qualify as an ethnic minority, there must be at least 50,000 people registered and claiming that particular ethnicity. The big five are the Bai, Dai, Yi, Hani, Tibetan, and Naxi minorities, all with populations in the millions. There are no real perks being a minority other than you can ignore the one child rule so it not uncommon to see large family units. Not sure if this can be called a perk. It is said that there are dozens more minorities around but they are not formally registered as their numbers do not qualify them to be a minority. Its funny but I thought that it would be inherent based on the definition of minority. What do I know? We will be visiting a model minority village in Kunming where they have recreated typical examples of how each of the 25 minorities (registered) live. Keep you posted on that visit.


The valley is also home to a large national park with two large and pristine glacier fed lakes. There are over 8 kilometres of wooden walkways that allow you access to the park and the lakes or you could opt to take a bus from scenic spot to scenic spot, saving you all that legwork. You can see in the picture what most of the tourists chose to do. Even our guide, frowned when we opted for the walk but Nonie just kept herding her along ignoring her grumbling. Poor girl didn't know what hit her. No buses for the Cornell's.



Saw two more minority groups as we left the park. The one on the left looks especially tasty as I would kill for a big juicy medium rare steak right now.


Next stop Kunming, the last stop on our Chinese adventure.