This almost reminds me of the ball in the movie Cast Away from way back haha. I remember having pet rocks and stuff as a kid, that time it was more of just a fun arts activity though. Were your pictures from the Forbidden City? I visited there a couple years ago and remember seeing some cool statues and stuff but can't quite remember. China sure does have a lot of cool rock stuff though like the Terracotta army in Xian. It's crazy to believe that there are sooo many stone people there.
The pictures are mostly from the Summer Palace.