@kc430

Well done Sir!

kunming subway card is 100 yuan for like 30 rides..thats a pretty serious discount

Boycott the overpriced Stoneforest rip-off, where does the money go?
I'd rather go visiting and enjoying the world famous UNESCO protected HaLongBay 下龍灣, near Hanoi, Vietnam or the best-preserved town Louang Prabang à Laos。We saw Great Buddha, Panda and EMeiShan, all too expensive, who made the price?

Stone Forest is appaulingly expensive. For less you could see:

Eiffel Tower
Colosseum
Acropolis
Victoria Falls
Pyramids of Giza
Pompeii
Masi Maara National Park
Aghia Sofia

But it's not the same crowd. Stone Forest is all tour groups on discounted tickets, or local people who are never going to be able to travel to anywhere on that list.

I've found ticket prices in China, apart from the main sites, to be very expensive and there's not even a discount for locals like there is in Europe and Zim.

If you're planning to go anywhere get yourself on Taobao and buy a discount ticket before hand. Sometimes CTrip give tickets away for 1 yuan to some of the major attractions in Yunnan, especially in off season.

who makes the prices? ans. govment for most sites. some other provinces are much cheaper

The central government sets the prices for the highest ranked attractions, so you'll often find the great wall, terracotta army etc to be competitively priced.

In the case of the stone forest the local Yi council set the price I was told. I knew someone who visited in 1986 - It was free.

There are discounted prizes of less than 50% for holders of a Kunming ID card. Thus there are reduced prizes for locals. But even with this discount I think the place is too expensive.

I think it is very simple. With more than 4,000,000 visitors per year (That is on average 11,000 per day) and that number is still going up you can ask anything you like. That it keeps people like me out does not matter. I enjoy cycling the area around the park.

If you know a local, you'll get into the Stone Forest for free. I have seen 1 元 tickets also.

For me it's not even worth the drive, let alone the entrance fee. It's OK if there's a bullfight on, otherwise, go, see it, be disappointed and never go again.