Shilin County

Within the boundaries of Shilin Cauntry
Now. we have been in Shilin Country, the former Lunan County. Lunan a Yiliang autonomous country is also one of the seven counties of Kunming. The Yi.Nationalty can be divided into. seveal brbranches,one of which is called "Sani"the YiNationality in Lunan is mainly the Sani peple Like the other nationalities the Sani people are very good at singing and dancing and they also like bult fighting and wrestling the Sani peoples ,just like theother branches of the Yi Nationalty, on the,24th of June on the lunar calendar cele brate one, of there most important festivals--the Torch Festival. thre are many legends about the,Torch Festival. One of the legends circulating the Sani people is as follows long long ago god Ayu from the heaven cast five the cereals(rice two kinds of millets ,wheat and bean)on to the world. The people on: the mundane world then had ample food arid clothing. With this, the. Heavenly good got very angry andsent sent Tian to the: mundane world to ruin the crops and knock down all oxen. A young Sani hero stepped forward bravely and wrestled which Titan and beat him. Titan flew a rago and spread a lot of incense aches that
htned into all kinds of injiirios and wanted to destory the crops in the mundance world .but the people in the mun-dance world were not at all afraid of this and made many fires to burn out injurios insects .in this way all the injurios insects were wiped out. The peoole in the mundane world  once again lived hved happy life to commemorate man's victory over the jinjiurios insects ,thepeople repeated the torch ritual on the 24th of june on the lunar calendar every year ,along with singing, dancing-,: bull-fighting and ,wrestling, 3hat is.how the Torch Festival, as well as bull-fighting and;wrestling came into being among these hes people.

On the night of, the Torch Festival, a very big torch about 3-4 meters is erected in every village and small torch-es from the villagers are put around it to,show unity of the,people.People dress up and dance around,lbo,torches! until daybreak. ,During the festival men and women,old and young,, all want to take part in all kinds of festive activities.
The activities for men are mainly wrestling and bull-fighting,etc.The activities for women ,include singing and danecing,etc.The Torch Festival is also a' festival for young, men and young girls to chooae their, lovers. They get in touch and acquainted with each other and talk love. At night the festival reaches its climax. People hold high the flaming torches and walk around the,houses, and along- the path in the fields. At the same time they sing and, dance,giving,! forth bouts of sonorous songs and cries.The! flaming: torches linkup with each other like writhing fire dragons, and light up the dark night and make it like a bright day;. All these form a iriew never to be forgtten.

the Sani people, i many fo,Ih, literary works circulate. The most famous one all over china is Ashima that ,has
been handed down from ancient times. Ashima,which spreads far and wide, is a narrative and lyile Nm of the Sani people, and was one made into a ,film. Besides there is oven a kind of cigarette with the brand "Ashima",. All of this makes the legend "Ashima" populor all over China. But at this moment I will; not tell you ,the legend of "Ashirna"', because when we reach the Minor Stone Forest, there is a scenic spot called "Ashima". At the spot it will be better to give you a more, detailed account of this legend of "ashima" which will become more vivid.

In Lunan there are many famous aa,characteristic dish.es, the most famous are "Ltman spiced corned, bean curd,"and "Lunan cheese."

lunan spiced corned bean curd is a dish made from pickled bean curd with a beauifful color and very good taste.It takes the lead in the pickles yunnan. In 1985 it was ehoeen as an execellent dish on a ministoral level bythe Commercial Ministry. In ,1989 it received the silver medal at the First Chinese Food Fair. Soit sells very well not - only tn Yumnan, but also all over China.

Lunan cheese one of the famous and characteristic dishes, isa kind of dairy product made from goat milk witha delicious, taste andbvery' rieh nutritions., The way of making Lunan cheese-is as follows.. Boil the fresh goat, milk, pm an appro-pilate quantity,ora special sour'water to makeit curdle, wrap the milk curd with a piece of cloth press it until no water drips, unwrap and dry it, now you have Iunan cheece, The excellent Lunan cheese, a nutriment with plenty of fat and protein,is white touched with yellow, moiSt, smooth andbright whith a tasty flavor,there are many ways for people to eat it.You can steam, toast,boil ,it or fry it in shatlow or deep oil. You can also eat, it before it is, cooked."Ham andCheese"(Lunan cheese slices steamed with ham, in between) made from Lunan cheese and Xuanwei (Xuawei a county in Y, unnan and famous for ham) is a; famous Yunnan flavor dish and liked by many people.

But Lunan is most famous for the Stone Forest is situated- on the Southeast of Knnming and about 86 kilometers away from Kunming.It takes ,only ,about 90 minutes ta; get there by cea. The Stone:Forest is about 1750 meters above sea level, and is of typical karst landform the Stone Forest in Lunan,Yunnan enjoy a high reputationt in the world, Every year' over one, million people,hoth at home and from abroad,come' here to visit it.

According to the scientific appraisal the Stone Forest area was the sedimentary area on the sea floor 230 million years ago becouse of the crustal movements the sea ,floor rose and the rocksc got out sea after many years corsion .and erosiofi, by the-rainwater,seawater, and weathering,plenty of:stone peaks, stone columns, stone shoots (stalagmites.) and stone buds rose strai 'traight from the ground and joine together just like a forest so it is callled the Stone forest In the Stone forest there are thousands of screen-like hills stand lng together with a lot of green trees and nunierous queel peaks and dangerous stones erecting with different shapes and forms. So the Stone Forest is prased as the "First. M myelous Spectacle in the World".

Before the 1940's,not many People knew about the Stone Forest. During the 4O's, the Southwest United University,.set up a branch campus in Lunan.The teachers and students went to visit the Stone Forest and: wrote some poems and proses which spread everywhere. Through their efforts, people all over the country Came to know about the Stone Forset.

Investigation reveals that,the Stone Forest, from: Tian-shengguan in the east to Yulongba the west,from Suoyishan in the south to Ernaozhan in'the.north,covers an care about 400 000 mu (about 30 000 hectares) about 3 000 mu (about 200 hectares) of which have been deVelope. The tourist way amounts 'to 5 000meters, the 'scenic spots reach 60. The Stone' Forest, the' key scenic area first approved' :by the State Council 1982, consists of seven natural scenic ar'eas Two forests, two. caves,two lakes and a water-fall. The two forests are the Major and Minor Stone Forests, and the Naigu Stone Forest, the two caves are Zhiyua Cave and Qifeng Cave, the two lakes are called Changhu Lake and Yuehu Lake, the waterfall is Dadieshm Waterfall: which has a drop of 88 meters and a flow capacity.d,150 cubic meterper second.It is: a grand waterfall!

Kunming Travel Attractions