The Beauty of Erosion

Mountain ranges were the most spectacular result of the tectonic shifts that caused the formation of Yunnan.But they were only the grandest, most visible evidence of the general reshaping of rock and earth that took place. Tucked away in scattered sites throughout the province are innumerable hillocks, boulders, pillars, cliffsides and rocks in interesting patterns, shapes and formations that make them stand out sharply in their environments. The wind and rain of many eons has worked on all rocks everywhere, while the tremors of a still seismically active earth rearrange what's exposed to the creative forces of the elements. Every now and then nature produces masterpieces of sculpture, rocks of all sizes, each a unique work that seems to be another of the earth's inexhaustible supply of aesthetic statements.

Most of this strange natural rock sculpture is in limestone, but some is located in areas which miss the rain during monsoon. It's as if they were directly underneath holes in the monsoon cloud that otherwise blankets the province. Or perhaps the clouds swirl all around the hole, rarely sliding over it. So while rain has been a partner with the wind in creating the limestone beauties wrought by erosion, in a few notable places, dry as a desert, the wind has worked pretty much alone.

Earth Forest,Yuanmou County

Erosion is usually a negative image, the consequences of bad farming, bad use of the environment, bad weather, bad planning, bad luck. But given that the earth will have its spots of no material, agricultural or pastoral use, it's a compensation when such spots are eroded in a way that appeals to man's sense of beauty and imagination.

The best examples in Yunnan of the beauty that erosion can create, besides the limestone Stone Forest, are the Earth Forest of Yuanmou County, Chuxiong, and the Painted Sand Forest in Luliang County, Qujing. The Earth Forest (Tulin) lies just south of the main road connecting Yuanmou with Yongren, about a third of the way to the latter. A dirt road turns up alongside a creek and the valley for several kilometres is quite verdant and fertile. Suddenly the road veers away from the creek, the green disappears and the dirt road has come to the entrance to the park..

The seldom visited Earth Forest stretches out 50 sq km and is the part of Yunnan that most looks like the desert hills of Morocco or the Valley of the Moon in Jordan. Entire cliffsides resemble the facades of Gothic cathedrals, columned Greek temples, or European castles with turreted towers. Other pinnacles rise from a round base and taper at the top almost to a point, looking like some of the pagodas in Southeast Asian temple compounds. Still others suggest various animals or even humans. The rocks and pillars of the Painted Sand Forest (Caise Shalin) in Luliang County are equally evocative and, like the outstanding formations in the Earth Forest, have been given names by the imaginative Chinese. Unfortunately, at the end of the 90's, construction of a road through the park and several theme park-style buildings took place. And in parts of the park now it is difficult to tell what is natural and what is the result of the blasts of dynamite.