The first stop of the day was at a Jade Emporium where we saw distinctly different colors of Jade, red, yellow, lilac and the familiar green. Expensive pieces of jade sculptures and art greeted us as we walked into the emporium.
Although there were many jewellery items for sale in the Emporium which people were buying indiscriminately, I was drawn to the section of the simple looking Jade Bangle. We were told the significance of this bangle by several Beijing girls and somehow the story resonated with me. The bracelet is a simple piece of jade, quite thick and made out of one piece of jade. The darker the color the more valuable the piece. The pieces ranged from hundreds of dollars to thousands. I bought a pale bangle that had hues of green and lilac for 500 dollars. The vendor told me that over time with my body heat and energy the deep colors of green and violet would emerge, thus increasing the value of the piece with age. The idea is that the bangle is never removed from my wrist and that it will someday carry an essence of me which has passed on to the stone. Chinese women pass their personal bangle on to their daughter-in-law or daughter at marriage.This website gives a simple explanation
https://jadeheaven.com/blogs/all-about-jade-jade-information/17910116-what-does-my-jade-mean-what-is-the-meaning-of-a-jade-bangle.
Well all I know for sure is that my bangle will be passed on by me to someone else later and I like that idea.
After Jewellery shopping we went on to see the Great Wall of China- another UNESCO World Heritage Center. The wall is 2300 years old and is the world's longest wall and biggest ancient architecture. Although there are several passes in Beijing we stopped at the
Juyongguan Wall fort, which has 1700 steps.
We were all ready to hike up to the top of our destination, wrapped in warm clothing and feeling energetic. We soon got a reality check, because not only were the steps steep, they were also of all varying heights, some appeared to be more than a foot high while others were 6 inches....we were soon straining to complete the upward move.
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| Don't look down - this is how far up we made it |
After we met up with every one and shared our achievements and compared notes, we sat together sipping hot chocolate and coffee and tried to warm up
We got on our coach and went on to a Cloisonne Factory where we were once again amazed at the skilled craftsmen of China. These vases and artifacts look like porcelain but are actually metallic. Thin metal wires are bent into shape to form the outlines of the intricate details of the design. Later many coats of finely ground glass enamel are fired into them creating a smooth porcelain like finish after the process is finished
Lunch was a welcome break after our climb and educational trips , and we were served lunch at the Cloisonne Factory and then given more time to do some shopping..
On to shopping with a full belly!
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| Here we catch Mario watching with intensity.. |
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From the Cloisonne Factory we made our way to the Ming Tombs. A scenic Walkway with many large stone sculptures of animals flanking the pathway. We soon noticed that some of the men had stayed behind to enjoy beer on the bus, while their wives stoically moved on without them ....
It soon got dark and 6 of us opted to go to a theatrical show " The Golden Mask Dynasty"in Beijing which came highly recommended. The drama tells a mythical story of the Traditional dynasties in Chinese history through music and dance. The highlights included a dance with live White peacocks that sat poised on the dancers heads, and then on cue flew off to the right. At one point we were overwhelmed with the use of water that flowed down the stage to form rapids and waterfalls as we sat enraptured in our seats as tons of water gushed on to the stage and around the side of the theater.
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| Posing outside the theater |
Some Glimpses of the Show....
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| Live Peacocks on the Dancer's heads |
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| The stage with dancers amidst tons of actual water flowing down with force around them!! |
Our group of 6 was tired and hungry after the show, and our guide Velma very sweetly met us after the show to accompany us to dinner. The rest of the group had been seen safely back to the hotel after they were fed. Our final meal was so extravagant and plentiful that it was a nice intimate touch to our final night in China.
Day 10 was a lazy day at the Hotel since we did not have to check out till 2 pm. Our coach was ready to take us to the airport at 2:30 pm and Velma was there to coddle us and see us through the final gates of Beijing Airport as we said Goodbye to her and China and made our way back to Toronto.
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| Goodbye China |
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