First Impressions
William Ellis School Summer School trip to China, 2005
First impressions of China - pictures and diary
China pictures and diary contents | Read introduction | Fuller account of school trip to China
8. Stone Forest
The Stone Forest - Karst scenery;
a dissected limestone plateau
-
The paths were very rocky; I fell over and hurt my knee.
-
Half way through the visit the guide suddenly stopped and started singing ‘Take me to your heart’. He seemed surprised that none of the group wanted to sing too. It seems that the Chinese love to sing and that it’s a part of their culture.
-
It would have been nice to visit on a sunny day, the meadows and forests around the stones were beautiful.
-
I could see some of the figures in stone but I think that they have made some of them up.
-
The pond with the fishes was amazing, when we threw the fish food in hundreds of big goldfish jumped up to eat it.
-
We went for a bonfire the night before on the outskirts of the Stone Forest. The bonfire party was fantastic. We did traditional Chinese dancing, that we had learnt earlier in the day, round a fairly impressive bonfire. The only problem was my new camera flew off my wrist half way through just as a whole group of people came stamping past in sort of conga line. I was screaming in time with their chanting. Although the evening and the setting were fantastic the toilets were the worst I’d ever seen. I think they should have been burnt to the ground they were so foul! Huge cess pits with slit trenches opening up on them, no doors; completely open to all those waiting to use the loo, piss/water all over the floor, and the worst smell imaginable! However, I am very proud of myself - I used it and nobody can now call me fussy!
-
The Stone Forest was such an amazing collection of rocks shaped by the forces of nature; I felt very privileged to be able to see it.
A network of paths runs through the pinnacles and ravines
