The Stone Forest or Shilin is a notable set of limestone formations located in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China, near Shilin approximately 120 km (75 mi) from the provincial capital Kunming. The tall rocks seem to emanate from the ground in the manner of stalagmites, with many looking like petrified trees thereby creating the illusion of a forest made of stone. Since 2007, two parts of the site, the Naigu Stone Forest (乃古石林) and Suogeyi Village (所各邑村), have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites as part of the South China Karst.

The Great Dismal Swamp is a marshy area in the Coastal Plain Region of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, between Norfolk, Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It is located in parts of southern Virginia cities Chesapeake and Suffolk and northern North Carolina counties Gates, Pasquotank and Camden. It is a southern swamp, one of many along the Atlantic Ocean's coast, including the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp in Florida, the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, the Congaree and Four Holes swamps of South Carolina, and some of the Carolina bays in the Carolinas and Georgia. Along the eastern edge runs the Dismal Swamp Canal, completed in 1805.

Qiandao Lake (Chinese: 千島湖, lit. Thousand Island Lake), a man-made lake located in Chun'an County, Zhejiang, China, formed after the completion of the Xin'an River hydroelectric station in 1959. 1,078 large islands dot the lake and a few thousand smaller ones are scattered across it. The lake covers an area of 573 km² and has a storage capacity of 17.8 km³. The islands in the lake cover about 86 km²

“Sky burial or ritual dissection was once a common funerary practice in Tibet wherein a human corpse is cut in specific locations and placed on a mountaintop, exposing it to the elements or the mahabhuta and animals – especially to birds of prey. The location of the sky burial preparation and place of execution are understood in the Vajrayana traditions as charnel grounds. In Tibet the practice is known as jhator, which literally means, «giving alms to the birds»”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A burial master chops bones of a body to feed vultures during a celestial burial ceremony on April 19, 2006 in Dari County of Guoluo Prefecture, Qinghai Province, northwest China. Celestial burial is a traditional funeral of Tibetan people, which began in the 7th century. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

A protestor gestures during clashes with police during protests against planned fuel price hikes on March 27, 2012 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Thousands of Indonesians students in big cities all over the county gathered to protest the governments plans to increase the price of subsidized fuel by 30 percent. The Indonesian parliament is currently debating the fuel hikes which would go into effect March 25, 2012 if approved. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

An adult female Masai giraffe rears on its hind legs as it resists efforts by Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) rangers to guide it into a transportation crate using ropes during an exercise to translocate large herbivores from Kedong Ranch due to land subdivisions and corralling that have disrupted wildlife migratory routes in Naivasha, Nakuru County, on November 16, 2025. Driven by two long ropes held by about twenty rangers, the blindfolded giraffe enters a tall trailer that is to transport it out of its natural habitat in the Rift Valley, which is deteriorating after having been resold. This is the first step in a meticulous relocation operation in the vast Kedong ranch, part of an ancestral corridor between Mount Longonot and Hell's Gate Park, near the iconic Lake Naivasha. (Photo by Tony Karumba/AFP Photo)

Two giant puppets, a deep sea diver and his niece, roam through the streets of Liverpool, northern England, and April 20–23 looking for each other during the Sea Odyssey festival. The free event, organized by the French company Royal de Luxe is one of a series of events marking the 100th anniversary of the sinking of The Titanic. The liner, registered in Liverpool, sank on its maiden voyage to New York on April 15, 1912.

Photo: A giant deep sea diver emerges from the Albert Dock to begin a journey through the streets of Liverpool during the Titanic Sea Odyssey on April 20 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong)

These are the stunning panoramic shots of some of the worlds most beautiful locations. Company AirPano travel the world photographing its wonders from above. Their shots include famous cities – such as New York, Paris and Barcelona – as well as natural marvels, like volcanoes and waterfalls. The team, which consists of 12 members – nine photographers and three tech specialists – began looking into this style of photography in 2006. Project coordinator Sergey Semenov revealed after initially working with spherical panoramas on land, the group decided to take to the skies. They made a list of the 100 Best Places on the Planet, which they hoped to photograph over the coming years. Here: Dubai. (Photo by Airpano/Caters News)