Stone Forest and Chinese Countryside

Today we took a trip out through the Chinese countryside to a place called "The Stone Forest". Tess was wonderful riding in the van. Only one other family wanted to come with us on this adventure as it takes about an hour and a half to reach the Stone Forest. The Stone Forest is a series of limestone rock formations created by a receeding ocean and the development of the Himalayas. It reminded us of Bryce Canyon N.P., and like Bryce there are a series of trails and vistas to explore. Helen, our Kunming City guide accompanied us to the Stone Forest and took us around the park, which was very beautiful. It was great to be out of the city and enjoying some fresh air.

We also got to see one of the ethnic minority groups known as the Yi. Here at the Stone Forest you see many of the men and women in their traditional dress which is very ornate and colorful. Each of the 26 ethnic minorities in Yunnan has a distinctive dress.

The Stone Forest was full of tourists like us. All of the Chinese tourists treated us like celebrities. Everyone wanted to take pictures with us and were very curious to see the babies. One woman from Beijing asked Tracy all about Tess and she put her hands together and thanked her for adopting this beautiful girl and for taking her to New York. After visiting the Stone Forest, Helen took us to an authentic Yunnan restaurant for lunch where we dined on Yak meat! It was delicious and just like any other red meat.

After lunch we took the "back roads" to Kunming, stopping at a pearl factory, where we found some great values on Kunming pearls.

China is very much a contradiction of itself as the countryside is both beautiful and ugly at the same time. The entire countryside was covered in dust--just like in the US west-- but topped off with a nice film of black soot. I have officially begun my own personal crusade to rid the world of plastic bags--my garage is full of unused bags and those not in my garage are strewn across the beautiful countryside.

Also along the back roads there were numerous empty buildings and gas stations. As best I can figure out, the Chinese government initiated these projects during the height of the cultural revolution as a means to employ the poor. Hopefully as the country continues to develop and prosper these buildings will be reused.

So, enough about my politics. Tess was a trouper in the van today, she napped and took in the scenery without the luxury of a car seat or a DVD player, so our road trips will continue as Tess will simply go with the flow. Every day Tess continues to come out of her shell and show her true personality. She really enjoyed the outdoors at the Stone Forest as she laughed and smiled the whole time. Her movement is vastly impoved as she's grabbing at things and really standing and stretching and flexing her muscles. She still loves the bottle, but did try a few Cheerios this morning and a little rice.