To make up for the cancellation of bamboo rafting on the Nine Bend River, the tour guide took us to the Fujian Linyin Stone Forest en route from Fuzhou to Yongding. This was perfectly fine with me since as a rock climbing enthusiast I really like stone walls—not that I would go rogue and try to scamper up any of them in this protected area.

Besides, this gave our tour group a chance to hop off the bus, stretch our legs and walk a mile. This even involved marching up a number of man-made steps and navigating well enough so as to not get lost through the labyrinth of rock.

The site is special for the animal heads—and likely other objects, depending on your imagination—that the natural rock appear like. Supposedly, some of the stone landscapes look like a bear, a monkey, a tortoise, or pig heads.

I am not so good at spotting animals, but I did admire the verdant plant life, a natural cave, and a pagoda.

I would not have minded even a little more time here, but it was already late in the afternoon and our tour group needed to drive to Yongding in order to check out some old earthen homes before most people’s bedtimes.
[null, {"document_url": "https://felixwong.com/2016/04/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-china/", "unformatted_src": "https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/f/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-2016-001.jpg", "src": "https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/f/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-2016-001.jpg", "formatted_filename": "fujian linyin stone forest", "alt_text": "Walking towards the Fujian Linyin Stone Forest."}, {"document_url": "https://felixwong.com/2016/04/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-china/", "unformatted_src": "https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/f/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-2016-002.jpg", "src": "https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/f/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-2016-002.jpg", "formatted_filename": "fujian linyin stone forest", "alt_text": "Chinese characters on a rock wall at the Fujian Linyin Stone Forest."}, {"document_url": "https://felixwong.com/2016/04/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-china/", "unformatted_src": "https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/f/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-2016-003.jpg", "src": "https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/f/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-2016-003.jpg", "formatted_filename": "fujian linyin stone forest", "alt_text": "Natural rock that look like animal heads at the Fujian Linyin Stone Forest."}, {"document_url": "https://felixwong.com/2016/04/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-china/", "unformatted_src": "https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/f/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-2016-004.jpg", "src": "https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/f/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-2016-004.jpg", "formatted_filename": "fujian linyin stone forest", "alt_text": "Stairway into the Fujian Linyin Stone Forest."}, {"document_url": "https://felixwong.com/2016/04/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-china/", "unformatted_src": "https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/f/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-2016-005.jpg", "src": "https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/f/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-2016-005.jpg", "formatted_filename": "fujian linyin stone forest", "alt_text": "View of trees through an opening between stone walls at the Fujian Linyin Stone Forest."}, {"document_url": "https://felixwong.com/2016/04/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-china/", "unformatted_src": "https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/f/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-2016-006.jpg", "src": "https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/f/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-2016-006.jpg", "formatted_filename": "fujian linyin stone forest", "alt_text": "School children touring the Fujian Linyin Stone Forest."}, {"document_url": "https://felixwong.com/2016/04/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-china/", "unformatted_src": "https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/f/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-2016-007.jpg", "src": "https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/f/fujian-linyin-stone-forest-2016-007.jpg", "formatted_filename": "fujian linyin stone forest", "alt_text": "Felix and his dad on the tour bus in Taiwan."}, null]