My First Jade Bangle Experience

My first trip to China was 1999, to Beijing to learn Chinese medicine with my qigong group.  My qigong master is originally from Beijing, and had contacts there.  During the flight to Beijing, I saw a jade bangle bracelet for the first time, on the wrist of a Chinese flight attendant.  I kept looking at it throughout the flight, and fell in love with jade bangle bracelets. Every time our tour guide took us shopping, I looked at the jade bangle bracelets. I wanted one like the flight attendants: green and translucent.  Little did I know at the time that is the biggest jade tourist trap!

I kept nagging the tour guide to take us to a jade bangle store, and he promised to after our Chinese medicine classes.  But, I just had to have one, now!    So on my way to a restroom after lunch, I saw a woman selling jade bangle bracelets, and bought one that looked just perfect, and priced very low.

Looks nice!

That seller was a classic tourist seller, and when the tour guide saw what I bought, he changed the plans for the afternoon and took us to a jade store.  Where I bought my second jade bangle bracelet. 

I loved the color of the green translucent "jade" bangle in the photo, but at the time I had never touched jade, and didn't know what it should feel like.  And the Chinese medicine education was really teaching me about qi energy.  Touching genuine jade was a life changing experience for me.  And I combined my learning Chinese medicine with learning about jade.  Daoism is the basis of Chinese medicine, yin and yang, feng shui, so jade and Chinese medicine are partners.

The "jade" bangle I first purchased, in the  photo, wasn't jade.  It was quartz.  And color treated.  But I have kept it, and enjoy it.  And it makes me happy when I touch it because of the experience of getting to know about jade bangle bracelets.