The Myth of the Beauty Stone
At the foot of Foding Peak in the west of Taihe Village in Dali，there is a piece of stone with ten feet long.People call it“the Beauty Stone”.There is a magical legend in Dali area about the origin of the“the Beauty Stone”.
The king of the Bai people had a son who was over 20 years old and didn't find a suitable girl to be his wife.In order to get his son married as soon as possible，the king called all the young and beautiful women of the royal family into the palace to be chosen by the prince.But the prince did not like any of them.The king said angrily，“Why do so many stunning beauties fall short of your wishes？From now on，I don't care about your marriage any more.You can choose any girl as you wish.”Soon，the king gave the prince an imperial edict to go to all parts of the country to choose his wife.Before the prince left，the king said to him，“All the grass and trees here are mine，and as well as the people.You take the imperial edict to all parts of the country to choose your wife！If you take a fancy to one，just stick the imperial edict on her door.”
The prince took the imperial edict and went out of the palace，but no matter which village he went to，the people ran away just like mice seeing cats.Every door was closed and everyone was afraid to see him.Therefore，although the prince almost visited the whole area of Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake，he did not find a wife.So the prince had to return back in low spirit.
The prince was tired and felt hot on the way back to the palace，so he sat down on a big stone by the road to rest.The prince thought to himself，“Why are people so afraid of me？Is it this imperial edict？”The more he thought，the harder he blamed this imperial edict.In a fit of pique，he attached the imperial edict to the large stone and mounted the horse and left.
Oddly enough，he only took three to five steps when the big stone stood up and followed him quietly like a human being.When the prince walked fast，it walked fast；while the prince walked slowly，it walked slowly.At first，the big stone only jumped step by step，but as the prince's horse ran faster，the big stone flew off the ground.
When the prince looked back and found himself being chased by a big stone，he was scared out of his wits.He tried his best to beat the horse and ran towards the palace，trying to get rid of the big stone.But no matter how fast his horse ran，the big stone could keep up with it.The prince shouted for help as he tried to escape.
It happened that the king and his ministers were out to see the scenery of the sea and the mountains on the gate tower.Everyone present were stunned to see the prince being chased by a huge flying stone.In order to save his son，the king took the bow and arrow from the guards and shoot at the big stone.With the sound of a boom，sparks flew everywhere，and the big stone fell on the top of Foding Peak.
It was said that this big stone was the incarnation of the third princess of the dragon king of Erhai Lake.When the stone was shot，it had a few drops of blood and marks of arrow holes.Whenever the moon shines on Cangshan Mountain，this big stone will become a beautiful figure of a dragon lady.Therefore，people call it“the Beauty Stone”.