That Jade Godown in Beijing...

On the second day of my Beijing trip, we were given a 6a.m. morning call... *yawn* 6a.m. when Pinky and I just went to bed a few hours ago and we had to get up. Knowing her very well, it would be like moving a log out of the bed. I woke Pinky up after I was done getting ready. The tour guide was mumbling that it would be a long journey to the Great Wall of China. I was seriously looking forward to the Great Wall so off we went bumping in the bus, getting stuck in the horrendous traffic snare. I prayed for smooth journey but the traffic was really killing me with the bus moving inch by inch. I think God has done the best because as I was complaining in silence, the tour guide said that this was the best bumper-to-bumper crawl because they have experienced numerous times where all vehicles were on a stand still for a couple of hours.

Roughly after an hour plus or two, we woke up from our deep slumber. The tour guide was talking away while Pinky and I plus most of the passengers in the bus was snoring away. I thought we were already there at the Great Wall but much to my disappointment, we were brought to this place to be slaughtered in the pockets. It was a large godown selling all sorts of jade, whether cut or uncut. If it was diamond then I don't mind hanging around and being mesmerized by the shining priceless stone but for jades... I don't really understand what do the Chinese see in jade stones. I remembered once when grandma wanted to give me a special purple and white jade bangle, I refused to accept as I know I will never wear that on my wrist. Now, as we entered the place, I thought there would only be 23 of us. We were taken from the main entrance to another smaller room. 

The door bang shut behind us as we stood around that man. I've never like the idea of being locked-in. Then, the man started carrying out his duty by teaching all of us and everyone else who was sent to this place by different tour guides, on how to recognize whether you're buying a genuine or fake jade. Oh, excuse me, do you really think that by telling everyone for a few minutes then the buyers can master the jade trade? Puh-leezzzeee... save that for yourself. Only Pinky and I were two totally uninterested people in the room. You can't blame us for that. We have been brainwashed more than a gadzillion times by her mom and grandma NEVER to buy anything from the shops or stalls, not to touch anything, not to even go near just in case you get the blame of breaking the stuff or stealing, we were reminded to just look and not touch or buy. China is very famous with dishonest tradesmen, from small roadside stalls to large classic looking shops. Don't blame me for saying it out loud but it's reputation the country has created by their own people. 

I think I got the shock of my life when another door was opened and we were asked to proceed from there forth. There were so many people even Queensbay Mall lose in terms of crowd overload. They were buying like those jade items were such precious and to die for. Let me show you what most of them bought, it's not the bangle, it's not the necklace with the jade locket, neither was it the jade ring... 

It was a pillow... how am I suppose to sleep on that? How? How? How? How can anyone call this a comfortable pillow? A pillow with medicinal value where it will help you sleep better, promotes good blood circulation.... and reduce snoring? Hahaha.. I added the last part myself... If I were to sell that I'm gonna add a lot more misleading information just to hit my sales target. I just couldn't understand why so many of them were grabbing that pillow to buy for themselves, to buy for their parents and grandparents. It's all in the head. If you think that by sleeping on that pillow and you will have a good night's sleep, then of course you will. I sleep soundly at night because I know my Lord gives me the peace of mind to sleep like a baby... I sleep like a dead log. 

We were at that jade godown for many many hours. At one point, I almost lost my patience and temper and wanted to scream at the tour guide for repeatedly saying that we were running out of time in order to reach the Great Wall of China before the sun sets. Excuse me, if we were in such a hurry, why were we hanging around here for so many hours when everyone was done parting with their savings and hard-earned money? I started disliking the tour guide... God knows, I never prayed for him at all, never even cross my mind to pray for a good tour guide... even hubby didn't think of praying for the tour guide.