We visited two other factories in Beijing. They each had short informative talks about the jewelry in a small room. Then we were escorted into large showrooms, always first to the most expensive jewelry. The sellers were persistent but did not make the visitor uncomfortable. We never lacked for help or information. In these showrooms, the buyer could use Chinese money (yuan) or US money or credit cards.This lady shows how pearls are placed into an oyster for developing. They were developed in the lake at the Summer Palace. None of the pearls in this showroom have paint on them. They were all fresh water pearls. This oyster had 16 pearls in it. In the showroom, they had several colors of natural pearls: gray, green, pink, yellow and white. The gray, pink, and green were among the most expensive.
At the Jade factory, we learned that there are several colors of jade also: dark green to light green, yellow, white, and other color variations. The light green and white are the most rare, and of course, most expensive. The hardness of the jade was compared to diamonds, with diamonds at a 10, and the hardest jade (jadeite) at a 7. The information about the pearls and the jade made us appreciate many of the things we saw later. When we saw the white jade Buddha or the walls of carved white jade, or sculptures, we knew that we were seeing the most expensive and rare form of jade. We understood that the dragon having a pearl in his mouth was part of the Chinese culture of both the past and the present.
This picture is of a Disneyland near Beijing that was never finished, but is for sale. Anyone interested?
This picture is of a Disneyland near Beijing that was never finished, but is for sale. Anyone interested? We packed Monday night for our flight on a Chinese airline, wondering about this interior flight. 
The old and
the new was again prominent as we left Beijing the next morning.
the new was again prominent as we left Beijing the next morning. On Tuesday, November 20, 2008, we left our pretty blue tour bus.
Up at 5:30, Tuesday morning, we rode the bus to the airport, and as we boarded the plane Debby counted 32 of 
our group, one person less than the total of 33! We found that Ann was being detained for accidentally having a Swiss army knife in her carry on. We thanked Soloman for rescuing her, and were reassured that he was to be with us throughout our trip. This is Soloman.
Up at 5:30, Tuesday morning, we rode the bus to the airport, and as we boarded the plane Debby counted 32 of 
our group, one person less than the total of 33! We found that Ann was being detained for accidentally having a Swiss army knife in her carry on. We thanked Soloman for rescuing her, and were reassured that he was to be with us throughout our trip. This is Soloman.
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