Stunning Stone Forest of Kunming China S8 EP 80 | Pakistan to Japan Motorcycle Tour
Good, good, good. Wow, unbelievable. They have built a viewpoint over there. You can see the whole view of the forest from here. Assalam Alekum everyone and welcome back to the channel. We are in Zhaotong right now.
We have finally rested here for a day or two. I rested for a day and then went to see the narrow city of Yanjin for a day. I hope you guys would have liked the previous vlogs.
Today is a long day for us as we will ride from here to Kunming. It is about 200 km from Kunming to Jiangsu. I am planning to go there as there is a big Muslim community in Kunming. There is a Muslim street there. We will explore it, see the mosque and the city. There is a UNESCO World Heritage Site 80 km from Kunming.
It is called Stone Forest. I saw the pictures and found it very interesting. So I decided to show it to you guys.
It will take us about 5 hours to reach Kunming. After seeing the forest from Kunming, I will reach Kunming in the evening. Then we will explore the city. Let's see what kind of day we have today. It is a little cloudy with a light drizzle.
That's why I am wearing my rain gear. Let's go and take you guys to Kunming. I've memorized one word and that got her surprised. She is still giggling. Bismillah... In the name of Allah.
Prayer for the journey May Allah bless us with a good day. Let's see if the rain is going to bother us on this ride. Hopefully it won't rain too much. But heavy rain has been in the forecast. Stone Forest is 360 km from here.
It will take us about 4 hours to reach there. But we will take a couple of breaks in between. So that will add to our time. Look at the way he intercepted Andrez.
He went all the way to that lane from here. The front tire has lost pressure once again. It's raining heavily. Well, the tire has the right air pressure now.
Hopefully it won't bother us for the next couple of days. But Yasin did ask me to check the air pressure today. I said okay, no problem. So I checked in the morning. But we still had to face this.
We are taking a short break here. It looks like a big area with a lot of restaurants. I think we can get sweet potatoes here. And boiled eggs. My hands are cold as I am wearing summer gloves.
What a weather! The rain is not stopping. I am wondering what we can see at Stone Forest in this weather. But anyway, let's try. I don't know if we visit this place again or not. It's about 65 km from here.
We are off the highway now. You are already aware of the weather condition. There is hardly any visibility. It's raining continuously.
And it's not even light rain. It pours down in torrents, in between. Let's see if we will be able to see anything in this weather. If the weather stays like this, then we will go back. Look at the electric chargers on the sides.
It's almost everywhere. That's why so many people are using electric cars here. Let me park Rangeeli, the motorcycle, under this tree. Thank you. We have got the entrance ticket of the park.
As well as for the electric bus. This ticket is for 25 yuan. And this is for 130 yuan. We have paid 150 yuan. I think this will be around 22 dollars.
The tourist tickets here are more expensive than the hotels. Mostly we get tickets for 130 to 150 yuan. This area is about 3 km from here. It's raining continuously and it's quite cold. So I decided to take the bus instead of walking. Normally, if the area is scenic and it is close to the site, then it's more fun to walk.
Hi. Are you KTM? Okay. He was just asking me where I am from and which motorcycle I have. This is the first time we have seen the rock formations here. This area is full of rock formations.
You can see there are a lot of big rocks here. There is a rock balanced on top of that rock. They have marked different areas according to rock shapes. So that you can visit different areas as a tourist.
All the rock formations you see here are limestone. We have seen a very beautiful place in front. I can see that the spots with more tourists must be more beautiful. So I'm just trying to visit all those spots. It's a little easy as one can walk here.
This is a 5A location. It's a top tourist location. So there can be a lot of rush here.
Even today, despite the rain and bad weather, there are many tourists. Mainly local tourists. You can hear the tour guides here.
They have their own speakers. In other places, they give you headphones. And the tour guide tells you what to do. But here, they have speakers. That's why there is a lot of noise. Just look at these rocks.
They are so sharp and straight. And the way the rocks are balanced on top of them. Unbelievable! You will find rock formations like this in most places. But there are mostly just 5 to 6 rock at max.
But this area is full of them. These rocks are unbelievable. Very beautiful. These rocks are unbelievable. Very beautiful.
From a distance, these rocks look small. But as you come close to them, you can see how big they are. Look at the beautiful walking path in the middle of the rocks. Wonderful Photography The ladies are saying something.
Why is the photo you took so beautiful? Is her voice beautiful? Good, good, good. Very beautiful. Why is she so beautiful? Give me one.
Take a photo of us. Dont what they are saying. She wants to translate. Picture. Yes, yes. Hurry, hurry, hurry.
Okay, okay. I am their cameraman now. Okay.
Thank you. No problem. Good, good. Good? Beautiful. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Bye bye.
Look how friendly the people are. And they are very curious. Wherever I have been, like when you go to a new province or region, the people there have almost the same behavior.
Initially, when I reached here, it was raining. I thought I had made a wrong decision. I shouldn't have come here. But to be honest, I have hardly seen such a beautiful rock formation elsewhere.
It's such an amazing place. It's unbelievable how they've made these walking paths. You can really enjoy the place. It's also protected. They have made these walking paths. You don't have to walk here and there.
Because this place is quite slippery. That's why they have made these walking paths. People of all ages can enjoy this place.
And the way you go to other places, the limestone formations over the years, like the rain water and the elements of different environments, they give it a unique shape. I have shown you different rock formations in my vlogs. But I think this is my favorite location so far. There are many more places to visit.
Let's see. Wow! What an amazing location! There are small water ponds at such places. I think these are natural. Out of all the formations we have seen so far, this is the biggest one, with a height of 20 to 25 meters.
They say Pathia in their language which means friend. Look at this. On one side, there is a pond. And on the other side, there is a rock formation rising from it. It's completely straight.
If they hadn't made these walking paths, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the beauty of this place. You can just see it from a viewpoint. Wow! There is another narrow path ahead.
Coming here was worth all the effort. I am so happy. Otherwise, I was even thinking about parking my motorcycle.
Forget the parking and just leave from here. But it was a good decision to come here. And my companions, who did not come here, missed this place. I mean really missed this place.
Amazing! Wow! Unbelievable! They have made a viewpoint up there. From there, you can see the whole view of this area. But man! The place leaves you stunned. So, welcome to Kunming.
The capital city of Yunnan province. And the biggest city in this region. So far, we have had a great ride. We still have 3.5 km to go.
And as soon as you enter the cities of China, all around you, you see lights. When I was coming here from Mongolia, it looked wonderful. But then there was a phase in between when I felt lost. The more time you spend here, you start appreciating it. These cities look awesome in the evening. Check this out. Electric scooters everywhere.
Every second or third vehicle here is electric or hybrid. And then there is this scooter. The roads here are very open. And you get a feeling that you are not in a congested city.
Overall, I didn't find any city in China where the traffic was a nuisance. Maybe that's because of some occasions where there are problems. When you spend the whole day in the mountains, small towns or villages and visit such cities, you really appreciate it. That you get to see all this in just one day. It's really amazing. It's a beautiful city.
I wasn't expecting Kunming to be like this. I can see a beautiful building ahead. We will walk there later. But I am gonna take a round over there. All the interesting buildings are here. We left them and were turning back.
I love the city. There is no hustle and bustle. It's peaceful. And it's a big city. I think this is their night walking street. This is our room.
There's a washroom on this side. It's a clean and beautiful bed. It's a small and congested room. And because it's a big city, we usually find small rooms like this in big cities. But we didn't pay much for it. I am paying 140 yuan here.
Approximately $20. I asked my tour guide and he booked it for me. It's a nice room. We will rest here.
But the reason we came to Kunming... Let's go. We have to see a Muslim street. We will eat something. Let's see how beautiful it is. I am at Kunming's walking street.
It's 8.30 pm. All the shops are open. Most likely, this city will remain open till 10 pm. If it remains open till 10.30 pm, we will have enough time
to see this street and Shun Chin street. I am going to visit this street. You can see the old historical style shops on one side. And on the other side, you can see everything modern.
There was a girl sitting here. She has just left. She will be here again. Let me show you. I have already shown you in China's different cities, that their traditional dress is very different here. She is wearing a cap.
Her pajamas are very colorful. Almost every area has its own dress. I think these are vegetable vendors selling mushrooms.
But these are different types of mushrooms. And right next to the shopping mall, you can see a very beautiful, historical, and of course Chinese style gate. They have preserved some of their historical things. And they are renovating it. I think this is the main shopping street here.
Because this is a pedestrian street. It's very open and clean. And they have decorated it a lot. And of course, if you come to China, it's not possible that you won't find luxury brands in the shopping streets here.
If you go to any big or small city, you will see Rolex here, and Dior in the front. I think it will be similar in the shopping malls. But in their shopping streets, most of the areas have luxury brands. Sometimes, when a person comes to a big city, it feels good to see all this hustle and bustle.
It's a very young population. You can say that 70-80% of the population is young people. I think there is no permission to cycle here.
And the security guard is running after him. Get out of here. There is a very cool thing about China. If you visit countries, you will see one or two majorities which are very well developed. Other cities do not have such facilities. But all the cities I have visited here, like Chengdu, Xi'an, Kunming, Beijing of course is their capital.
Every city you visit is well developed. For example, I have lived in Frankfurt for a long time. So if I compare it with Frankfurt, I don't think this city is any less than Frankfurt. In fact, everything you see here, I don't think you will see all this in Frankfurt. So even the Chinese cities other than the main cities...
are already so well developed. in terms of infrastructure and everything you see here. China has left Europe far behind in this regard. Since this infrastructure is new, there is no comparison. Shunjin Street comes under Kunming's Old Town.
This is mainly a Muslim street. And right here, in this street, you will find the very historical Shunjin Mosque. The door is open, I have seen it.
Let's see if it is open, I will go inside and show you. All these shops here are the property of the mosque. And they all have the Halal logo on them. This is the entrance to the mosque.
You can see the Chinese-style gate here. I think it is open. As-salamu alaykum.
Is it closed or open? As-salamu alaykum. Is it open? Yes. This is what the mosque looks like from inside. You can see some pillars here.
And if you look at the roof, it is quite high. It looks like a newly built roof. The floor is mostly wooden, and there are carpets. Overall, it is a very simple and beautiful mosque. And it is very open. Alhamdulillah, I got a chance to offer my prayers in such a historical mosque.
This mosque was built in 1425, during the Ming Dynasty. After that, during the Qing Dynasty, the mosque was expanded. But with time, whenever there was a war here, the mosque was often martyred. Then it was rebuilt. One thing you will notice, that in this tour, all the mosques I have visited, any mosque's dome, for example, in Central Asia, the mosques there, have some Arab influence. or Turkish Influence.
That's not the case here. All these mosques' domes have been rebuilt. Initially, their domes were like this. Recently, their domes have been made in Chinese style. So, when you enter the mosque, you feel a very historical touch. But only after sometime, you realize that it has been rebuilt.
And these mosques' domes have been rebuilt in Chinese style. Why was it rebuilt? Because the Chinese government does not want to see Turkish or Arab influence here. That's why all the mosques have been rebuilt. Maybe some mosques can still be seen in the same style.
But as far as I have visited, wherever I have been, I have seen. Insha Allah, I will show you some more areas in the next vlog. We will experience these things there too. Assalamualaikum It's my first time here in China that the police stopped me while I was making a video. He came to me and asked me what I was doing.
I showed him the video and then he said it's okay. Overall, there was no issue at any place. The food is here.
Let me tell you something. Earlier I used to tell you that Uyghur and Xi'an people mostly had their own restaurants where we used to go for food. But in this region, or even in Xi'an, they are mostly a Chinese ethnic group called Hui. Their population in China is approximately 10.5 million. And they are mostly Muslims.
In Greece, there are approximately half a million Hui people. I'll try to show you their lifestyle when I go to mosques tomorrow. As a tourist, I don't know much about these things. So it's difficult to notice the difference.
I don't think so. But yes, I do notice the difference in food. When we go there, we mostly get hand made noodles.
Here they make a barbecue. So we have chicken and lamb for ourselves. Let's enjoy it.
We should have had bread but we have rice. What to do? It doesn't matter when you are really hungry. But this is really good. Look at these two beautiful historical gates. It feels like they have been lifted from somewhere and placed here. Otherwise you don't feel like.
Most probably they have renovated this place. If you look at the sides, you will see modern skyscrapers in Kunming. They are mostly around this area. But it looks really beautiful. At least when you go out in the evening, you get a vibe of the city. Almost every city has a night street like this in China.
You can say that it's almost a must. Now that the shopping streets are closed, people are slowly coming here. Remember me in your prayers. Do Like, Share and Subscribe. Allah Hafiz.
2025-03-23 00:04
