At the Stone Forest, walk twenty minutes past the tour groups

The site is 90 minutes from the city and enormous, and the flag-led groups all follow the same short circuit near the entrance. Keep walking on the marked paths beyond it and the limestone maze empties out completely.

Go early, take water and a hat — there is no shade between the pinnacles — and allow three hours plus travel. Trains from Kunming to Shilin are the quicker way there; the tourist buses stop at a jade shop on the way.