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2.Jade Shopping
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So, after my rather hectic orientation, I decided to venture into the jade market, though obviously, being a complete novice at this kind of thing and not wanting to get ripped off I decided to attend a class run by the HKTB (Hong Kong Tourist Board) on the secrets of jade shopping, this is one of many free classes that HKTB run in order for visitors to fully aopreciate their stay in the region. The class tutor made jade shopping sound like the easiest thing in the world - meke sure you buy jadeite rather than nephrite (which is a lower quality) and look for richness of colour (not injected), translucency and smoothness of overall colour. There are a number of colours of jade - green, white, lavendar, black and yellow. Surprisingly, the rarest form of jade is lavendar jade, rather than green, but as green is the most desireable colour it is the dearest to buy. It is also true that most Westerners do not like the most valuable jade - single tone emerald green, because we do not think that it looks natural, we prefer, green on snow (white jade with a little green) or a veined green, where the colour is not uniform. This is fine, but we should not pay as much for it as that of a uniform colour.
So armed with this knowledge (and some about diamonds, but I won't go into that as I can't afford one) I set off for the Kowloon Jade Market at the top of Nathan Road. Once you get into the market one thing is made very clear - the theory of buying jade is very simple - in practice, everything that you are taught in the class goes out of the window - you are confronted with masses of green items, which could be jadeite, nephrite, quartz or even glass. In the end, after trying to put my newly learned skills into practice I gave up and just plumped for the piece that I liked the most - a braclet with (what I hope is jade) pices carved into the form of tortoise shells, I do know that I probably paid over the odds for it but the couple actually let me browse without pushibg - a rare thing here, and they were very sweet, so I didn't mind, especially as I would have paid this price or more for something like this at home.
After shopping I decided to go write up my travelpod but on the way to the internet cafe, I noticed that the Peak was remarkably clear and so raced up there to grab some clear shots. It was well worth the trip, I had thought that the skyline was incredible on my first time but without the cloud and smog to block the view, the vista was supurb. However, I'd only paid one way, thinking that it would be a good idea to walk down through the peak and Victoria Gardens. Unfortunately I forgot to ask which way Victoria Gardens were, and in my usual style, just headed for the nearest path that went down. At first I thought that I was going to have to come back up - not a pleasant thought - as I kept wandering into private roads but eventually I found the path and started to head down it. Two words. Hot and Long. My legs were aching before I was half way down and my T-shirt was soaked behind my backpack (this made the ferry ride back to Kowloon uncomfortable as I didn't want to take the backpack off - there was no way to tell people that I'd walked the peak and wasn't just some weird sweaty person). the serenity of the walk is wonderful though and my lost way of finding my way brought me past some fantastic houses sitting out of the subtropical jungle foliage of the Peak itself - who says Hong Kong has no greenery? I found two types today........... I really hope my bracelet is jade. What astounded me most about my trek down though was that I passed a number of people who were actually running up, and some of them did not even appear to be sweating - it was quite a sight, and not something I would contemplate - I even balked at the thought of walking up, let alone running!
Nevermind - it was worth it for the serenity, the greenery and the amazing framing of the Bank of China Tower...... I did say I'd developed an obsession.... More thumbnails ...
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