After refusing to marry the son of a local chieftain, a young woman named Ashima was kidnapped by her spurned suitor and carried into the wilderness. Her true love, Ahei, saved the day by defeating the abductor in a three-day singing match, but on the ride back to their village, Ashima drowned in a flood. This, according to Chinese lore, is the origin of the iconic Shilin Stone Forest’s Ashima Stone, a monolithic rock formation that resembles a kerchiefed woman carrying a bamboo basket. Otherworldly rock formations like this, known…
