Calm Spirit/Ying Yu Jade China 2008
Screen in hotel
lobby
I uploaded a second video of jade purchases to Youtube in the morning, then went to breakfast and when I came back to the room, checked to see if it had been approved to view. I couldn't access youtube. In fact, there were several web sites I couldn't connect to including my hotmail and yahoo personal emails. We were watching CNN news, and a story about problems Chinese army attacking Tibetans in Lhasa, then the screen went black. The television went blank when any story about Tibet, Beijing and the Olympics, the sand storms in Beijing, the horrible air pollution, and any criticism about China. Of course they would block Youtube because videos about the atrocities in Tibet would certainly have been uploaded, as every monk now has a mobile phone with camera! The China Daily English newspaper is only allowed to report government approved material had a story with the Chinese version of what was happening. If you remember "The Weekly Reader" in elementary school, that's what the China Daily reminds me of. No significant news. We decided that if we weren't supposed to know anything, we would continue to do what we needed to do and not worry about it. But I was very disappointed that was the end of uploading to Youtube because I had purchased special equipment and practiced making the videos before we left for China!
Dao of Tea
statue at tea market
But...we had plenty to do! We took a taxi to the Nanshan Tea Market, another wholesale market of streets and streets and shops and shops with tea and tea products. And of course no English speaking persons. We didn't know where to begin. I wanted to buy jasmine tea which is the best and least expensive in Guangzhou, lungching dragonwell tea, and ba bao cha "8 Treasure Tea". We wandered around until I found a shop that seemed "friendly" and with my Palm English/Chinese translator program, let them know I wanted mo li hua cha, jasmine tea. I sure learned a lot about it, and we were served several varieties using a traditional "gong fu" tea service table to try different kinds of tea. I bought three big boxes of jasmine, and Tom liked the Guan Yin black tea so we got a box of that. I have never liked the Guan Yin tea, and found it undrinkable, but the "real thing" of high quality is wonderful, and leaves the perfect after-taste.
I'm sure they would have liked me to purchase a shipping container of tea but were very gracious when we purchased a few kilograms instead. There were also shops that sold tea wares,cups and pots, and "gong fu" tea sets, which I bought a small portable one. And bought some exquisite small teapots for girlfriends so I can share some of my wonderful teas with them. I later found some lungching dragonwell, and the back pack was pretty full so I only got a small bag. This excellent quality of dragonwell tea makes the tea I've been drinking and selling look pretty humble in comparison, and of course it's quite expensive so I decided to just get a small amount of good quality. I thought they were measuring out gold, not tea, for the price of it. But no BA bao cha, it must be a northern China tea.
The taxi driver who took us to the tea market told us something when we got out of the taxi, and after we went to the street looking for a taxi, I figured out that he said something to the effect that you have to cross the street to get a taxi. There was no intersection, and a fence, so we risked our lives, crossed the street, and waited until all the local Chinese people got taxis first before we finally went to the hotel to unload, and head back to the jade market.
I looked and searched for jade dragon pendants, but they were all small, or carved on something, and none of them were three dimensional like real dragons. I was focused on finding pendants when a ring of jade bangles caught my eye because they looked strange and were reflecting the light oddly. I tested the chime and looked at them with a filter, and sure enough, they were not "A" quality. I felt pretty good that I could spot them so easily! But compared to all the beautiful A grade bangles, they really stood out. I remembered buying some very nice "chalk blue" hues jade bangles from a seller at the end of a dirty alley in 2006, and found the alley, and there she was! Her jades were gorgeous and we bargained long and hard. She kept pulling out more and more jade, of all different qualities and prices, but I hoped that by buying "many many" from her, I could get a good deal. We pledged "pengyou" (friends), and offered us "white tea", boiled water, which is a sign of doing a good deal together.
Across the street from the jade market is a pearl wholesale market, and other wholesale Chinese jewelry. It's a huge, huge, building, takes up the entire city block, and is 8 stories high, packed with shops and shops, and is truly the most overwhelming market I have been in. I found some jade earrings with sterling silver and bought a wholesale amount of different styles. If you like semiprecious gemstone beads, you would be in bead heaven here, with all different kinds of beads and the best supply of jewelry making findings I've seen. We had spent most of our Chinese money, it was Saturday and the banks were closed until Monday, which probably saved me from loading up on beads and findings. Instead, we took our heavy back packs and tired feet back to the hotel.
But, we got turned around in the building and exited into a huge outdoor mall, packed with Chinese people shopping, browsing, wandering around. There were all kinds of stores selling all kinds of things, including a couple of department stores, a McDonalds, a Starbucks, everything you could imagine.
People in China go about their lives as we do. They want nice things, they make their living the best they can, and in general the government doesn't seem as repressive as we read about and see in our news. We traveled freely and there was never any area we could not go to. One minute we were in a wholesale market, then we walk out the door and are in a major shopping mall. This is my favorite part visiting China, being out with the local people, wandering around, looking at things. I took these photos because it was a large area, but it would not be appropriate to take photos of individuals doing things. Although I would love to have taken a photo of a little boy urinating in the middle of all this busy pedestrian traffic! Little kids used to have split pants so when they had to use the toilet they would simply squat wherever they were, the world was their toilet. It still is, but now they have to pull down their pants
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Split pants are still common in China
We had dinner at a traditional Guangzhou style restaurant, the front has live seafood you choose for your dinner, and other live things that are killed and cooked out front on the street so you can watch it. We didn't order any of the "exotic" foods, ordered the hot steel plate beef again, rice and vegetables. But certainly observed the exotic foods being prepared and eaten. It was an adventure, and we wanted to experience a Guangzhou restaurant like this.
Then a trip to the Shamian clinic for my dose of medicine, followed by a Dove bar to get rid of the taste, and a good night of sleep. The hotel has very comfortable beds, with feather duvet covers, and big towels in the bathroom, and comfy spa style bath robes. I fall asleep with visions of jade bangles in my head!
Next: YueXiu Park on Sunday, and more exploring
Jade Bangle Bracelets web site
