Shilin Stone Forest, located in Yunnan province, is one of the wonders of nature. The area of this outlandish place is huge - about 350 sq. kilometers, and its especially unique parts are even recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In fact, a stone forest is a mountain formed by karst formations under the influence of tectonic movements. Scientists believe that 200 million years ago this place was the seabed, but the sea was drained and left behind a natural anomaly - the amazing Shilin Mountains. Ancient Chinese legends have brought their interesting tale about the appearance of a stone forest to this day.
Long ago, a severe drought struck in the Lulian and Lunyan valleys. The nearest river dried up and the peasants had nothing to irrigate the fields. But there lived a mighty youth named Jingfennoga in those parts. Realizing that the threat of a slow death hung over his people, he decided to help and find a new source of water. Jingfennoga walked around four mountains, found 8 springs, but they were all dry.
A lot of time passed and diligent searches led the young man to the distant river Nanpanjiang. The guy realized that if you block her path, the water level will increase and she will return to the village along the withered bed of the neighboring river.
Having found the narrowest section of the river in the area of the settlement of Ilyan, he called all the inhabitants from the surrounding villages to help him fill the river with stones and block its path. All day people tried to throw stones at the turbulent river, but the current was so strong that all the boulders were carried away. Exhausted and upset peasants had no choice but to go home, leaving Jingfennogu alone. The frustrated youth lay down on the river bank and fell asleep.
In a dream, a gray-haired old man appeared to him, who, admiring his tenacity, told Jingfennogo about another way to realize his plans: “Above a cliff in the Dongshan Mountains there is a spreading tree with blue flowers, under it there is a large stone door to a cave. In the cave of that lie two magic items - a whip and a wand, with which you can control the mountains. You only need to get them, and you can immediately control the stones of the four mountains and move them. But it must be remembered that only after sunset can you use these two magic items, and before sunrise they will definitely need to be returned to their place."
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Jingfennoga woke up and hit the road. He had to ride ninety-nine mountains, go through ninety-nine rivers, fight ninety-nine leopards before he reached that very cliff. Finally, having obtained the magic items, he left the cave, and, pointing the rod at the four mountains, said loudly: "Listen to me, mountains, I command you to follow me to the Nanpanjiang River to block her path." Obeying this order, the mountains rose with a crash and went.
Jingfennoga drove the mountains towards the river like a sheep herder. With a wand, he showed them the way, and with a whip he made them move. The journey was not easy, and at some point the young man felt overwhelming fatigue and severe hunger. After eating wild berries, he lay down to rest and fell asleep. A few hours later, Jingfennoga woke up excitedly, remembering to return the magic items to the cave before sunrise. He saddled his horse and rushed faster than the wind. 4 mountains tried to keep up with him.
That night, in Ukeshu Village in the Longan Valley, a man woke up to feed his cows. At that moment, when he brought an armful of grass into the corral, a strong rumble was heard from a distance, and the ground under his feet suddenly trembled. Thinking that an earthquake was beginning, he woke up his wife and children, and began to drive the cattle out of the camp into the yard. At this moment, hearing the cries of people, the rooster thought that dawn had come and immediately crowed loudly. This attracted the attention of other roosters in the area … So the cock's cry instantly spread throughout the valley.
The mountains approaching the Longan Valley heard a cock crow and suddenly stopped. Jingfengnoga got terribly angry. In anger, he pointed the rod at the mountains and beat them with all his might with the whip, which left long longitudinal scars on them. But the mountains, having decided that the dawn had begun, seemed to have grown into the ground and did not move any more. Realizing this, Jingfennoga fell into despair, and began to reproach himself for having let down both his people and the gray-haired old man from the vision. Unable to endure the pangs of conscience, the young man thrust a knife into his chest, after which he himself, his horse and magical objects turned into stones.
With the first rays of the sun, the inhabitants of the surrounding villages came out of their homes and froze in amazement: everywhere towered boulders of various shapes. So they have been standing since then, and so they can be seen now. Later, the Chinese called Shilin "the first miracle of the Celestial Empire" and built many tourist routes for those wishing to find themselves in the labyrinths of a stone forest created by nature itself.