2011-21 Jade Factory & Sacred Way, Beijing China
Hello All,
After spending the morning on the Great Wall of China we were famished. Our tour bus took us back into Beijing to the Long Di Superior Jade Gallery for lunch.
After spending the morning on the Great Wall of China we were famished. Our tour bus took us back into Beijing to the Long Di Superior Jade Gallery for lunch.
Now you might be asking
yourselves “…a jade gallery for lunch?” That would be correct, as they have a
lovely restaurant adjacent to the gallery. Here a couple of our new Canadian
friends from our group are taking a moment to reflect on the activities and sights
of the morning.
Once we finished lunch we were
provided a briefing about jade. It covered the many different color phases of
the stone, which colors were the most valuable, and how to tell jade from glass
fakes. We found the presentation to be quite interesting and educational.
Here the lady making the
presentation is holding a piece of red and white jade.
We then toured the factory and watched artists
creating exquisite pieces ranging from jewelry to intricate carved balls that
were inside of other carved balls. The workmanship of these artisans could only
be classified as those of masters of their craft. Notice the unfinished blocks
of jade of various sizes are on the floor and at their workstations. It was fun
watching them slowly turn the blocks into masterpieces. We also noted that the
many sets of eyes watching them work from only a couple of feet away didn’t
disturb them at all. In fact, as we slowly walked by each station, not one of
them ever moved their attention from their work.
Note the green rubber
protective sleeves pulled over their arms.
From the factory we went into
the gallery. Wow, the pieces of art in this area were mind boggling. And they
were so varied--something for every taste. The only way to describe them was
that they were simply gorgeous. Here is a small sampling of the larger pieces.
This was a lovely tea service
out of red and white jade.
This large green vase was
absolutely gorgeous. Isn’t it awesome how the sculptor carved rings inside the
handles on both sides of the vase--amazing. It is easy to see how the thin body
of the vase is translucent when compared with the thick base.
This is a large sculpture of a
king in a flowing robe holding his beard and a spear. You can see Dave’s elbow
reflected in the mirror behind while taking the photo. It was an awesome work
of art and could be yours for a mere 188,000 RMB’s. That would be $29,484!
Check out the intricateness of
this sea life piece with fish in a net--again awesome craftsmanship.
Our next adventure for the day
took us to the valley that Ming Emperors chose as their burial place. Between
1368 and 1644 there were 13 Ming Dynasty emperors buried in grand mausoleums
here. The Ming Tombs area is best known for the Sacred Way, a long avenue (foot
traffic only) lined with 18 pairs of massive stone sculptures of elephants,
lions, camels and mythical beasts which lead to the tombs. The avenue begins
with a grand marble gateway entrance that is more than 400 years old. There are
other gates and bridges along the way and it is landscaped with hedges and
weeping willow trees lining the way. It
was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003.
Our Viking guide Joshua did a
wonderful job in explaining the various statues. He is a fine young man with a
vast amount of knowledge about the places we visited. The nice thing was that
we could listen to him through our earpieces while still taking photos.
Here is a shot of what is
known as a Foo Dog.
Here is another young lady
that wanted her photo taken with us. It must be that we kind of look like Kurt
Russell and Goldie Hawn--okay maybe not!!
As you can see our day was
quite full and we weren’t done yet. After returning to our hotel we had time to
quickly freshen up and change clothes before departing for an amazing dinner of
Peking duck followed by the Peking Opera. But, we’ll cover that in our next
little blurb.
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns