A recommended day trip from Kunming is the 74-mile (120-km) drive to the Shilin Stone Forest, where limestone laid down some 270 million years ago has been eroded into the shapes of petrified trees and other phantasmagorical forms. One of the country’s foremost natural wonders, the forest attracts more than its share of Chinese tour groups and can become very busy at weekends, but our guides know plenty of less well-known formations where you can sidestep the crowds and experience this extraordinary landscape in relative peace and quiet.