Xingwen Stone Forest
Name in Chinese: 兴文石林 Xīng Wén Shí Lín [ʃin wə:n si lin]
Duration of Tour: Half a Day
Location: Xingwen County, Yibin Prefecture, Sichuan Province
Highlights: the Karst Landscape
Must-see Sightseeing Spots: Dayanwan Grand Funnel, Tianquan Cave
Reputations: A World Geo-park, A Key National Tourist Resort, A National Four-star Scenic Area
Located in Xinwen County, the stone forest covers an area of 126 square kilometers(49 sq.mi). Xingwen Stone Forest is well-know for its typical karst landscape which is formed due to the underground erosion of limestone. It was added to the list of China’s National Geo-park in 2004, and the list of World Geo-park in 2005. Xingwen Stone Forest Geo-park is a natural wonder in the south part of Sichuan Province. Featured by the Karst landform, the whole scenic area consists of three parts, including the sinkholes, karst caves and the clusters of rocks. The rocks stand in great numbers. The shape of the towering rocks is various. Some look like dragons, some are like tigers and others.
Tianquan Cave
There are over 200 karst caves in the geo-park. Among the underground caves, Tianquan Cave is the largest one. It ranks No.1 in China in terms of its length and volume. The cave is 10.5 km(6.5 miles) in length and 2.7 million cub meters in volume. An underground river flows through the cave. The temperature in the cave is constantly at 18℃(64.4°F) all year around.
Dayanwan Grand Funnel
Dayanwan Grand Funnel is a vary large sinkhole. It is located at the exit of Tianquan Cave. The natural funnel is 650 meters(2,133 feet) in diameter and the sunshine penetrates the funnel to its bottom as deep as 208 meters(682 feet). Dayanwan Grand Funnel is the largest one in China. It is even much larger than the Arecipo Funnel in U.S.A., which is 330 meters(1083 feet) in diameter and 70 meters(230 feet) in depth.
Travel Tips:
How to Get to Xingwen Stone Forest Geo-park
The geo-park is located in Xingwen County, Yibin Prefecture, Sichuan Province. It lies about 400 km(249 miles) to the south of Chengdu, taking around five hours to get to from Chengdu by a car. The distance between Xingwen Stone Forest and Shunan Bamboo Forest is about 80 km(50 miles). It takes about one and a half hours to get to the stone forest from the bamboo forest.
How to Visit Xingwen Stone Forest Geo-park
The scenic area is vast. Shuttle buses and buggies run in the geo-park. Visitors usually take the buggies to visit the clusters of rocks from the entrance, then ride the buggies to Dayanwan Grand Funnel. After taking photographs, they walk into Tianquan Cave. There is an underground river inside the cave, visitors can take a boat from the middle section of the cave to the exit. Buses shuttle between the exit of the cave and the entrance of the park.
Weather
The temperature in Yibin Prefecture ranges from 9℃(48.2°F) to 16℃(60.8°F) in spring, 20℃(68°F) to 29℃(84.2°F) in summer, 24℃(75.2°F) to 32℃(89.6°F) in autumn and 13℃(55.4°F) to 18℃(64.4°F) in winter. The best time to visit Xinwen Stone Forest is between May and August.
Recommended Tour:
Four-day Southern Sichuan Ecological and Cultural Exploring Tour
Related Articles:
Shunan Bamboo Forest
Lizhuang Ancient Town
Yibin Travel Guide
Author: Tina Luo
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