Archive for August, 2008
Fine Jade Jewelry, a Wonderful Work in the Art Garden
Krista QQ(www.123giftfactory.com) asked:
Jade, known as the “king of emerald” with its fresh & beautiful appearance and transparent texture. Featured with its gentle, crystal, modest and fine characters, people often use jade as a symbol of happy, reunion, harmony and beauty.
The name of “Jade” has a very interesting origin: In general, stones in color of wine, maroon, ochre are called “emerald”, while in color of pea green and deep-green called “jade”. However, there has an another parlance: Legend has it that Fei is a birdie with red plumes, green jade is birdie with green feathers, so the merger of the two words refers specifically to a kind birdie who has cyan and brown feathers. As be assimilated as lovely and cute birdies, the beauty of jade is beyond of common speaking.
Not noly admired as its amorous but smooth color, and bright but crystal luster, jade also been endowed with a gracious noble character. As an ancient saying goes: “The gentleman in the Derby-yu.” If you wearing a crystal green but has a solid inherence jade jewelry, your gentlemanly style will open out naturally.
Perhaps that is why people are inclined to carve and chisel their favorited jade aborativelly, so as to present its delicate mettle and florid brilliance. In this way, several pieces of jade art were born. As a wondenful work of Arts Academy, she emits limpid snd fleckless flavor, she display you a world detached from our daily life, and make all restless hearts regained quietness. Her pure, transparent and smart characters make people enjoyful, Furthermore, the auspicious patterns carved in her body indicate the luck and happiness yet!
* Part of the above jade jewelry pictures come from: http://www.made-in-china.com/products-search/hot-china-products/Jade.html
Jade, known as the “king of emerald” with its fresh & beautiful appearance and transparent texture. Featured with its gentle, crystal, modest and fine characters, people often use jade as a symbol of happy, reunion, harmony and beauty.
The name of “Jade” has a very interesting origin: In general, stones in color of wine, maroon, ochre are called “emerald”, while in color of pea green and deep-green called “jade”. However, there has an another parlance: Legend has it that Fei is a birdie with red plumes, green jade is birdie with green feathers, so the merger of the two words refers specifically to a kind birdie who has cyan and brown feathers. As be assimilated as lovely and cute birdies, the beauty of jade is beyond of common speaking.
Not noly admired as its amorous but smooth color, and bright but crystal luster, jade also been endowed with a gracious noble character. As an ancient saying goes: “The gentleman in the Derby-yu.” If you wearing a crystal green but has a solid inherence jade jewelry, your gentlemanly style will open out naturally.
Perhaps that is why people are inclined to carve and chisel their favorited jade aborativelly, so as to present its delicate mettle and florid brilliance. In this way, several pieces of jade art were born. As a wondenful work of Arts Academy, she emits limpid snd fleckless flavor, she display you a world detached from our daily life, and make all restless hearts regained quietness. Her pure, transparent and smart characters make people enjoyful, Furthermore, the auspicious patterns carved in her body indicate the luck and happiness yet!
* Part of the above jade jewelry pictures come from: http://www.made-in-china.com/products-search/hot-china-products/Jade.html
Where can you real jade jewelry in San Francisco?
Chuckie H asked:
Oops, where can you find real jade jewelry in San Francisco?
Any stores in Chinatown?
Oops, where can you find real jade jewelry in San Francisco?
Any stores in Chinatown?
How to purchase Jade Jewelry and not get ripped off?
tritribirdie asked:
I will be travelling to Hong Kong for vacation and would like to purchase some Jade jewelry. If there are any Jewelers out there with advice on how to proceed, I would love to hear from them.
I am already aware of the Hong Kong Tourism stamp of approval so I can shop at endorsed dealers, but I’d still like to be an educated customer.
I will be travelling to Hong Kong for vacation and would like to purchase some Jade jewelry. If there are any Jewelers out there with advice on how to proceed, I would love to hear from them.
I am already aware of the Hong Kong Tourism stamp of approval so I can shop at endorsed dealers, but I’d still like to be an educated customer.
I need a new hobby, any suggestions?
munkees81 asked:
I love to draw, paint, and create. I don’t like the cutesy grandma crafts like needlepoint and crochet. I like to be unique and allow myself to take whatever it is that I’m doing and turn it into my own thing. I’ve done a lot of mosaics and jewelry, and now I’m bored with it. Any help?
I love to draw, paint, and create. I don’t like the cutesy grandma crafts like needlepoint and crochet. I like to be unique and allow myself to take whatever it is that I’m doing and turn it into my own thing. I’ve done a lot of mosaics and jewelry, and now I’m bored with it. Any help?
Xinjiang’s Massive Muslim Markets
Tom Carter asked:
Perhaps the foremost reason why so few travelers make the journey to northwest China’s Xinjiang province is quite simply its vastness. Aside from being located on the exact opposite side of the country from Beijing, which itself is a long journey even by plane, the arid autonomous region is the largest territory in China, spanning over one-sixth of the second largest continent in the world. It’s also a long journey in terms of the cultural shift the traveler will experience especially when one spends a whole day in its street markets. And conversely, considering its proximity to central Asia, sharing borders with an astonishing eight other nations, one wouldn’t believe that Xinjiang is the People’s Republic’s least touristed province. But it is this solitude in fact that makes the provincial desert a distinct oasis in Asia.
Not far from the scalding sands of the Tarim Basin is the region’s political and commercial center, Kashgar. What Marco Polo called Cascar and the Han now refer to as Kashi the Asian outpost has fashioned itself over the centuries into one of the Silk Road’s most vital international crossroads linking China with northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan by way of the Karakorum Highway. As such, Kashgar more closely resembles the Mid-East than the Han culture we are familiar with; the city is a veritable tapestry of central Asian cultures, as reflected in its massive weekly bazaar. Located in the Kona Sheher old town, the famous Sunday market is, like all things Xinjiang, China’s largest.
Approaching the market district, one is immediately beset by a commingled scent of smoke and fruit. If China is famous for its cuisine, then Xinjiang is responsible for half of its success. Lamb kabob roasted throughout the day over sizzling coals against an undulating landscape of spicy lamian noodles topped with peppers, tomatoes and garlic, goat’s head soup, deep-fried fish and yellow mountains of pilaf rice, all washed down with boiling vats of satiating cinnamon tea.
There may not be as much bread in the whole of China as there is in Kashgar and one is oft tempted by stacks of lightly seasoned nan or pyramids of sesame seed bagels fresh out of the oven. Scarlet slices of watermelon, Xinjiang’s most abundant fruit and pink peaches blushing like a child’s cheeks are the perfect desert dessert, with market patrons walking away with comically dripping chins.
Gorged on the regional fare, one must then dodge the merchant calls of “kilinglar!” (Turkish for “come!”) while browsing the endless displays of useful household wares, useless souvenirs (genie lamp anyone?), outdated electronics, knockoff clothing and eye-catching textiles, the latter being the most popular among the women of Kashgar. It’s quite a sight to see a Muslim lady shrouded in an hijab headscarf burrowing through hills of shimmering silk and other fine fabrics to further veil herself in.
Xinjiang’s predominant nationality, the Uyghurs, flavor the region with both their unique Turkish-influenced culture and devout religious faith. With more then twelve million Muslims in China, Xinjiang naturally accounts for over half the national total. Kashar’s Id Kah is the largest mosque in the People’s Republic; the city literally comes to a halt five times a day when the faithful respond to the calling of the adhan and rush to mosque for a congregational series of Mecca-facing prostrations and Islamic prayer. Half an hour later, the city is again screaming with activity and commerce.
Despite the traditional lifestyle of the Uyghurs, Kashgar has developed itself over the years into a white-tiled mercantile metropolis, where even the famed weekly bazaar is now held in a modernized indoor facility of thousands of identical stalls. Though still quite a spectacular site, this refinement has left many enthusiasts desiring something a bit more…authentic. Not to be discouraged, the answer to anyone dissatisfied by the comparatively tamer and more contemporary Kashgar is Xinjiang’s lesser known, yet arguably more impressive souk in Hetian, a day’s scenic drive south along the lethally hot Taklamakan, the second largest desert in the world. The shaded, tree-lined respite is renowned throughout China for its jade, silk and carpets – the three treasures of Hotan (as the Uyghurs spell it), which translates into “place that abounds in jade”.
Indeed the first site anyone will happen upon at the Hetian marketplace is an entire street of jade dealers, either from storefronts, on blankets spread out on the ground, in the trunks of cars, or out of their pant pockets. The rabid riots of precious stone peddlers and prospective buyers haggling in their Turkish tongue over every size and color of jade imaginable add to the chaos that is only the beginning of Hetian’s bazaar. Extending countless kilometers in all four directions, the traffic-stopping market literally takes over the city streets; ass-drawn carriages contending with big bad buses and motorcycle taxis navigating through scores of preoccupied people. An entire boulevard of fragrant fruits and prismatic vegetables intersects an avenue lush with carpets and rugs, which is then separated by the canals of the Hotan River.
Beyond the medieval blacksmiths pounding on their anvils asphalt soon turns to dust. Livestock both alive and freshly slaughtered trample the dirt or turn it into crimson mud, and baying horses, camels, mules and bulls excrete freely onto the ground while being industriously inspected by interested human parties. To a pulsating background score of 200 beat per minute Arabic tabla drums and the two-stringed dutar, the bizarre bazaar dramatically segues into heaps of faux jewelry, henna hair dye and cheap cosmetics ravaged by young, olive-skinned women wearing heavy black eyeliner who prefer neck and arm-revealing (gasp!) western fashion to their more conservatively concealed counterparts. Meanwhile the local men get a shave and their head scalped by an outdoor barber or go browsing for a new knife or an embroidered dopi cap.
The blazing desert climate begins to cool at sunset, which in the summer months is about 11pm, and the mad market in Hetian winds down. Beggars seek those last few alms, exhausted vendors relax with a few chapters of the Qur’an, and the rest of us return home to look through our treasures.
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Perhaps the foremost reason why so few travelers make the journey to northwest China’s Xinjiang province is quite simply its vastness. Aside from being located on the exact opposite side of the country from Beijing, which itself is a long journey even by plane, the arid autonomous region is the largest territory in China, spanning over one-sixth of the second largest continent in the world. It’s also a long journey in terms of the cultural shift the traveler will experience especially when one spends a whole day in its street markets. And conversely, considering its proximity to central Asia, sharing borders with an astonishing eight other nations, one wouldn’t believe that Xinjiang is the People’s Republic’s least touristed province. But it is this solitude in fact that makes the provincial desert a distinct oasis in Asia.
Not far from the scalding sands of the Tarim Basin is the region’s political and commercial center, Kashgar. What Marco Polo called Cascar and the Han now refer to as Kashi the Asian outpost has fashioned itself over the centuries into one of the Silk Road’s most vital international crossroads linking China with northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan by way of the Karakorum Highway. As such, Kashgar more closely resembles the Mid-East than the Han culture we are familiar with; the city is a veritable tapestry of central Asian cultures, as reflected in its massive weekly bazaar. Located in the Kona Sheher old town, the famous Sunday market is, like all things Xinjiang, China’s largest.
Approaching the market district, one is immediately beset by a commingled scent of smoke and fruit. If China is famous for its cuisine, then Xinjiang is responsible for half of its success. Lamb kabob roasted throughout the day over sizzling coals against an undulating landscape of spicy lamian noodles topped with peppers, tomatoes and garlic, goat’s head soup, deep-fried fish and yellow mountains of pilaf rice, all washed down with boiling vats of satiating cinnamon tea.
There may not be as much bread in the whole of China as there is in Kashgar and one is oft tempted by stacks of lightly seasoned nan or pyramids of sesame seed bagels fresh out of the oven. Scarlet slices of watermelon, Xinjiang’s most abundant fruit and pink peaches blushing like a child’s cheeks are the perfect desert dessert, with market patrons walking away with comically dripping chins.
Gorged on the regional fare, one must then dodge the merchant calls of “kilinglar!” (Turkish for “come!”) while browsing the endless displays of useful household wares, useless souvenirs (genie lamp anyone?), outdated electronics, knockoff clothing and eye-catching textiles, the latter being the most popular among the women of Kashgar. It’s quite a sight to see a Muslim lady shrouded in an hijab headscarf burrowing through hills of shimmering silk and other fine fabrics to further veil herself in.
Xinjiang’s predominant nationality, the Uyghurs, flavor the region with both their unique Turkish-influenced culture and devout religious faith. With more then twelve million Muslims in China, Xinjiang naturally accounts for over half the national total. Kashar’s Id Kah is the largest mosque in the People’s Republic; the city literally comes to a halt five times a day when the faithful respond to the calling of the adhan and rush to mosque for a congregational series of Mecca-facing prostrations and Islamic prayer. Half an hour later, the city is again screaming with activity and commerce.
Despite the traditional lifestyle of the Uyghurs, Kashgar has developed itself over the years into a white-tiled mercantile metropolis, where even the famed weekly bazaar is now held in a modernized indoor facility of thousands of identical stalls. Though still quite a spectacular site, this refinement has left many enthusiasts desiring something a bit more…authentic. Not to be discouraged, the answer to anyone dissatisfied by the comparatively tamer and more contemporary Kashgar is Xinjiang’s lesser known, yet arguably more impressive souk in Hetian, a day’s scenic drive south along the lethally hot Taklamakan, the second largest desert in the world. The shaded, tree-lined respite is renowned throughout China for its jade, silk and carpets – the three treasures of Hotan (as the Uyghurs spell it), which translates into “place that abounds in jade”.
Indeed the first site anyone will happen upon at the Hetian marketplace is an entire street of jade dealers, either from storefronts, on blankets spread out on the ground, in the trunks of cars, or out of their pant pockets. The rabid riots of precious stone peddlers and prospective buyers haggling in their Turkish tongue over every size and color of jade imaginable add to the chaos that is only the beginning of Hetian’s bazaar. Extending countless kilometers in all four directions, the traffic-stopping market literally takes over the city streets; ass-drawn carriages contending with big bad buses and motorcycle taxis navigating through scores of preoccupied people. An entire boulevard of fragrant fruits and prismatic vegetables intersects an avenue lush with carpets and rugs, which is then separated by the canals of the Hotan River.
Beyond the medieval blacksmiths pounding on their anvils asphalt soon turns to dust. Livestock both alive and freshly slaughtered trample the dirt or turn it into crimson mud, and baying horses, camels, mules and bulls excrete freely onto the ground while being industriously inspected by interested human parties. To a pulsating background score of 200 beat per minute Arabic tabla drums and the two-stringed dutar, the bizarre bazaar dramatically segues into heaps of faux jewelry, henna hair dye and cheap cosmetics ravaged by young, olive-skinned women wearing heavy black eyeliner who prefer neck and arm-revealing (gasp!) western fashion to their more conservatively concealed counterparts. Meanwhile the local men get a shave and their head scalped by an outdoor barber or go browsing for a new knife or an embroidered dopi cap.
The blazing desert climate begins to cool at sunset, which in the summer months is about 11pm, and the mad market in Hetian winds down. Beggars seek those last few alms, exhausted vendors relax with a few chapters of the Qur’an, and the rest of us return home to look through our treasures.
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