A little more than an hour’s ride southeastward from the Stone Forest Scenic Area will take you to Nuohei Village, or “a spirit amid stones”.

Strolling along the stone-paved path in the village, you will see houses of green, yellow and red slates. Not just that, courtyard walls and cattle and sheep pens are all built with slates... The intelligent Sani people usually build their houses on hillsides. With the locally abundant stones, they have created a poetic kingdom in the depths of mountains. 

Sister Wang runs a shop in the village selling the Sani embroidery. Hospitable and straightforward, she offered to act as our tour guide. Nuohei Village has a history of more than 600 years. She told us that her house is already more than a century old and there are over 100 such houses in the village. 

In recent years, many villagers began to turn their old houses into inns and restaurants. An increasing number of domestic and foreign tourists are coming and people’s life is getting better and better like her Hani embroidery business.