XIUYAN, CHINA

Natural Chinese Jade

We started with breakfast of a traditional fried bread. I had eaten this fried bread like we eat donuts, and now learned that you are supposed to break them into pieces in a bowl of hot, sugared water, then wait til they are moist and scoop them out with chopsticks. Not very nutritious, but good to eat.

There is a new road to Xiuyan that made travel much quicker and easier. Although I did miss the interesting drive through some of the markets on the old road we traveled last year. It is about a two hour drive by car, maybe three hours by shuttle bus.

The jade market was so overwhelming I forgot to take photos. There was so much to see and choose from, and as soon as one of the sellers saw me even look at something, they were serious about making the sale. There were bangles, pendants, beads, buckles, jade belts, pillows, rollers, teapots and sets...and the carvings were wonderful. They are very heavy and I don't sell many. But they look great on my web site! It made me appreciate the work my supplier does, because I tell him what I want and he picks it out. And this is an enjoyable, but certainly not easy, thing to do! I bought a lot of pendants, especially the Guanyin, Buddha, phoenix, and dragon designs. And I found some gua sha tools, used for acupressure treatment and massage, which I had been trying to find for a long time. I bought as much jade as I could carry. It gets heavy pretty fast.

We had lunch at one of the local restaurants. The food is very simple, "countryside food". One of the dishes looked like local grasses. Beer is usually served as the main beverage at Chinese meals, also tea. The bangle carver's wife met us at the restaurant, and we walked through Xiuyan to see the carver.

Jade Carver

Since jade is stone, it was very dirty and dusty in the jade carving room. The carving tools are cooled with water, so it was wet in there, too. There were four other people working, most of them wore masks because of the dust. The bangles are first cut and rough carved, then polished. There is a saying, that "the carver always leaves something behind", meaning that because each one is different, there will be some imperfections of nicks, scratches or cracks. Most bangles are carved 60 mm size, so when customers ask for larger bangles, the inside of the bangle can be carved so that it is larger. If a larger over-all size is needed, a larger piece of rough is required, and the standard sized tools need to be used differently. So the price will be higher.

Making these beautiful jade bangles is fascinating, and it was so interesting to see them in their different stages, from rough to finished. I watched for a long time, I think everyone got bored waiting for me.

Then we walked back to the jade market to buy some bangles. The streets of Xiuyan are interesting, also.

Back at the jade market, we went to the jade carver's section where his bangles were sold. That day the bangles were very green, and there were some smaller ones that were a darker green with some interesting patterns. I wanted to purchase certain other colors, but this is what the jade carver had available that day.

The carver's wife and her assistant boxed them, put some in pairs, and it was really enjoyable choosing those bangles. I bought some more pendants, a bunch of traditional Chinese knotted cords for pendants, and it was time to leave. Mr. Ma took my many bags of jade pieces, put them in boxes, and packed them to send to UPS in Dalian for shipping.

When we returned, I went to the Dan Dong Hotel, a government hotel, for the night. I didn't have a reservation, because our plans had changed. Chinese people always tell me not to worry about making reservations, just walk in and bargain for the best rate. But I always make my reservations in advance, using the internet to save money, because when they see me, the price goes up instead of down. Anyway, there was a Communist government conference going on at the hotel, and all the rooms were full, EXCEPT there was ONE room, where former President Nixon stayed. And of course it was the most expensive. But I bargained it down, and was so surprised I could do that. Government hotels are different than regular hotels for tourists, but since tourists don't come to Dan Dong, this was probably as good as it would get. There are always people knocking on the door, and they let themselves in. And the rooms are so sparse compared to tourist hotels. ONE towel in the bathroom, and surprised I would want more, like a wash cloth. I was surprised to see a terry cloth robe in the closet, but not surprised to discover it had not been washed between guests (maybe President Nixon wore it last!). The "restaurant" was cafeteria style, not very clean, and as typical of government restaurants, they were out of many of the food choices ( mei you). But I was exhausted and slept well on the hard-as-a-board mattress.

When you check out of a hotel in China, you have to wait at the desk until someone looks at your room, and makes sure you didn't take anything.

Before we left on the train to go to Shenyang for more shopping, Charles gave me a taiji lesson. He says that I learned all wrong, and he can never teach me the right way, because I can't un-learn. There is a big difference between my taiji and what I see in China. He calls mine "old lady taiji". I think we learn taiji in the U.S. for relaxation and health, and it loses its martial arts nature, has no power. When I watch him and other Chinese people play taiji, there is so much more energy, I can feel it when I watch it. I wish I could do it that way. But I still practice my "old lady taiji" every day.

Next Shopping in Shenyang