Jared, our writer for today, on a trail in the Stone Forest.

Yi tour guides, notice the triangles on the hats, they indicate marital status."Young women wear a stiff, triangular piece of fabric on either side of their headdress to attract the attention of young men, but no young man should ever touch this ornament, or he will be forced to labor for three years at the girl's home. On their wedding day, young women remove the two triangles and lay them flat on top of their heads to symbolize marital peace and happiness." (source for this info and info on the Yi Torch Festival can be found here)

Musicians who greeted us along the path to the Stone Forest

Sopper and Simpson's pods make it to the top of Sword Point, one of the rock formations.

Lotus Pond, deep in the Stone Forest.

Perrin, Blomgren pods make it to sword peak.

Lunch at Blue Duck, a restaurant specializing in duck dishes.

(photo,right) AACE hosted a farewell banquet to the Kunming principals who so graciously received us in their schools. Dr. Wu Yanjiang, the Dean of the Institute of Chinese and International Studies, Yunnan Normal University, on the left in this photo, oversaw our stay. Art prints were gifts to our hosts; Dr. Wu receiving a print from Mr. Blomgren

Jared says:

I was really looking forward to today, because we were going to the Stone Forest. Before we came to China I did a research project on it, and was really excited to see it in person. I was so amazed by how huge some of the rock structures there were. I remembered seeing pictures while I research for my presentation of some of the scenic views there; seeing them in person was really cool. We got to go to places where there were no other tourists, also we got to go to the highest part of the Stone Forest. It was really cool to get away from the tourists and climb through the rocks. We went down into a cave off the main path and saw a lot of cool views.

I thought knowing all of the things I learned about the Stone Forest made it better for me, and I was able to appreciate it a lot. I think we got to see the real Stone Forest by being able to get off the main path and seeing some really cool views. The thing that I liked the most about the Stone Forest was climbing through the cave and seeing some unusual sights that not a lot of tourists get to see. Learn more about the Stone Forest on Jared's AACE website and here on a site we found with lots of interesting facts. There are more photos here on this professional photography site.

Yi people sewing crafts for their tourist business.

This is a kind of drum, banjo, guitar stringed instrument of the Yi peoples.

AACE in hats, preparing for a day hiking in the full sun. Students are divided into "pods" with a teacher for this day so they can travel more easily through the narrow pathways and climbs of the Stone Forest.

Jared and Alicia in one of the tunnels the carved paths take through the Stone Forest.

Cheyenne, Ms Sopper, Luke by the Pond.

Simpson and Sopper pods traveled together through the stone Forest.

Dr. Wu, Mary Greene, and Dr. Wu's children, Wu Yan Cheny and Wu Yan Xong who joined us for the day.