Xian'an Stone Forest

Xian'an Stone Forest

Xian'an Stone Forest is a newly discovered landscape in Hainan, identified by experts only in 1992. Located at the border between Baoting and Sanya, the stone forest sits atop Xian'an Ridge at an elevation of 700 meters and covers an area of 39 hectares. It is a typical example of tropical "karst landform," featuring solution grooves as if carved by knives and axes, with the deepest reaching 25 meters; the bizarrely shaped stone sprouts reach up to 35 meters in height. The scenic area also contains smaller caves such as Xiaoqianlong Cave, Fairy Cave, and Panlong Cave, some large enough to accommodate hundreds of people, with rivers beneath the caves navigable by boat. The natural vegetation coverage in the stone forest area reaches 70%, presenting a tropical low-mountain rainforest landscape. It fills a gap in China’s tropical karst stone forest landforms and holds significant scientific value. On Mount Xian'an in Baoting, Hainan, within the Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County, there lies a contiguous stone forest covering approximately 580 acres on a mountain over 700 meters high. From a distance, the dense, fang-like stone forest stands row upon row, thrusting straight toward the blue sky and towering into the clouds. Up close, one can see overlapping peaks, undulating and rugged terrain, with the tallest stone stalagmite reaching 35 meters and the average around 4 to 6 meters. The shapes are diverse and wildly grotesque, as if crafted by supernatural forces—a masterpiece of nature that is truly breathtaking, unmatched across the island and an awe-inspiring sight.

[] Discovering a Treasure

In 1992, Professor Yang Huo from Hainan Normal University accidentally discovered this treasure and named it "Xian'an Stone Forest." This is a forest of stone formed by sword-like and needle-like rock formations crowning the mountaintop. Prior to this, only a very few elderly herbalists had occasionally ventured into the forest. Unfamiliar with these strange rocks, they revered the mountain as a “ghost mountain” or “spirit mountain.” In 1995, the name “Xian'an Stone Forest” first appeared in the “Hainan Province Atlas” published by Surveying and Mapping Publishing House.

Scientifically classified in geomorphology as a tropical rainforest-type karst sword and needle stone forest, Xian'an Stone Forest covers an area of about 600 acres. This type of stone forest was first discovered in China and is found in only two other places in the world, previously only seen in Malaysia’s Mulu, which is smaller than Xian'an Stone Forest. The emergence of Xian'an Stone Forest immediately drew attention from relevant departments. In April 2000, when Yunnan’s Shilu Stone Forest applied to UNESCO for World Natural Heritage status, the application video provided a general introduction to several stone forests in China, with Xian'an Stone Forest highlighted as a key feature. This indicates that shortly after its discovery, Xian'an Stone Forest had already claimed a status second only to the Lunan Stone Forest in Ashima’s hometown among China’s stone forests. At the foot of Xian'an Stone Forest, numerous caves wind and twist through the mountain's base, interconnected among each other. Among them, Xian'an Stone Forest’s Qianlong Cave is one of the more famous, stretching about 400 meters in length. After discovering the stone forest, Professor Yang continued exploring the caves at the mountain’s base and that same year found an unknown cave, with just its main passage stretching nearly 20 kilometers. Xian'an Stone Forest combines peculiar stones, green mountains, steep cliffs, caves, ancient trees, and giant vines—truly favored by nature in every way. In 1995, four years after the stone forest’s discovery, a Miao village located dozens of miles away relocated to a flat area near the southern part of the stone forest, adding a rich layer of Miao ethnic flavor to the site.

Address:

Western Baoting County