Saturday, August 25, 2012
We met with our guide George at 0830 to start our 2nd day of touring in Beijing!!! We started off heading for the Jade Factory and then got stuck in weekend traffice combined with an accident. It made for a VERY LONG drive. One thing to be said about CCAI... they keep us very well hydrated. George had 1-2 flats of water on the bus for us and kept passing around bottles of water. Not wanting to have another "Possible Heat Stroke/Fainting Incident" like Memorial Day.... I made sure to drink every last one of them. By the time we go to the Jade Factory, their was NO WAITING for the tour to begin.... I hurried off the bus and found the bathroom ASAP. Found out afterwards there was a Western Toilet... but at that point... I didn't care.... and I Made It!!! I got back to the group, just as the guide was starting to talk about the "Generational or Family Balls." I saw one of these mentioned on a blog MONTHS ago, and immediately decided I WANT ONE OF THOSE!!!
Generational/Family Balls are made from a single piece of jade. Holes are bore into it and then a Master Jade Carver proceeds to carve a Dragon (the Emporer/Ying) and a Pheonix (the Emperess/Yang) into it. Once that is completed, the Master Carver then begins to cut more and more balls INSIDE the original ball.... representing all the different Generations of a family that are seperated, but joined... one can not exist without the other. I have thought they were amazing since I saw them and seeing them in person was Awe Inspiring.
After the demonstration, the shopping commensed. Thank-goodness, I went knew we would be stopping her ahead of time and went in with an idea of what I wanted to get for B'Elanna. I was able to find a VERY nice Generational Ball for our family and a nice Tiger Zodiac pendant for when she is older.... these are the two things I Had-To-Have!! Then, my Mom and I, proceeded to buy all the Fun stuff we wanted.... thank goodness I had budgetted for this one stop.... otherwise it could have broken the bank. The sales attendants Assume every woman wants a Jade Bracelet and immediately start trying to get you to buy them. I almost Sercume to Temptation.... but then I got my head back on straight and told the attendant "Maybe later, I have some specific thing I am interested in." From there we were more on the same page and he was very helpful in finding some Really nice things.
After that, my Mom and I had a bit of fun taking pictures.
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| Me getting gored by a Giant Jade Bull! |
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| My Mom with a Giant Jade Warrior. Her kind of Man... Strong and silent. :) :) |
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