Days 10 & 11 – China

To take a detour into China takes some considerable time and effort considering these things are at a premium … but I say with much regret that on this occasion … it was almost a complete waste of time.  The quality and variety of carvings was not even close to what I saw on my last visit and any beads that did catch our eye were far too expensive.  The coral, lapis and aqua strands were of inferior quality and a higher price than we had seen in HK.  Perhaps all the quality goods have been shipped to the HK fair, who knows.  As a consellation I bought some pyrite skulls because the ones I bought last time sold instantly, small mercies.

We visit our onyx bead supplier, even though we are well stocked, but Kasie selects some excellent banded agate strands in a full range of sizes.  This is a classic example were you have to physically come here to select your stock, if you were to do it via email orders the strands would be largely mediocre with some quality strands mixed in, which is hardly what you want.

The three of us went on an interesting nighttime stroll through the centre of a modern city in China .. amazing.

On the second day we took the opportunity to visit a large jade market and saw some breathtaking pieces … but without an interpreter or having done any recent reading and research into jade it was a golden opportunity to get stung.  The variety of treatments done to jade is a massive area of study in itself .  So we just watched and studied the general landscape and observed other people buying to get a feel for what was going on.   Eventually we picked up some fairly inexpensive jade buddhas for pendants so that it made us feel like it wasn’t a completely wasted journey.

We went to the station to change our tickets to an earlier train and we’re in luck.

I am frustrated and annoyed at the time spent here and knowing how much more productive it would have been to stay in HK for these two days.

One night at a hotel and back to HK we go.

First thing tomorrow Aidan & I are off to Bangkok while Kasie has one more day at the HK fair.

There’s no denying that the two unsuccessful days in China, combined with a degree of travel fatigue and homesickness has dealt us a blow to our enthusiasm.   But there’s a cure to this that we both looking forward to … we’re meeting my wife Ann and my ten year son Liam in Bangkok tomorrow morning.  Can’t wait.