Xi Shan, or "The Western Hills Scenic Area" stretches along steep (straight up and down) cliffs near Kunming. There are giant pines and many ancient temples. Old narrow pathways, all built along rising slopes, twist around to places surrounded by ancient trees and shrubs. Covered stone corridors connect each pavilion and room, so one has the feeling of coming indoors and outdoors, again and again. The whole place seems to reflect a combination of Buddhism and Taoism. It took 72 years for stonecutters and artisans to build this hillside combination of grottoes, walkways, pavillions and mansions, during the Qing Dynasty, from 1782 to 1854. To get there our guide took us in our bus up an extremely narrow and winding road, filled with foot, bicycle and car traffic, for about 5 km (yes everything here is
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