Jade, Jade, Everywhere Jade!

Jade pendants

As part of any 'formal' tour one will take in China, there are some 'mandatory' places one must visit. The first we visited in Beijing was a jade factory. They taught us how to identify jade in its raw form, then how to distinguish between real and fake, then how to determine quality versus lesser quality--that sort of thing. Then, after you're an 'expert' in all things jade, they walk you through their store of anything and everything jade. Chinese consider jade as 'the essence of water' and that it's a living, breathing substance--good for the health. So, you'll often see folks wearing jade jewelry--bracelents, pendants, etc. They put (yes, it was struggle) a jade bracelet on me. It was a solid ring of jade that I had to contort my hand and wrist just to wriggle it on. If it wasn't so painful putting on/off I might have considered purchasing one--but I didn't think I'd ever be able to put one on all by myself once I left the factory so that was a sale the store missed out on. ;) I did purchase a pair of dark blue jade earrings.