Should I Go Back to China and Shop for Jade Bangle Bracelets and More?

I started going to China in 1999.  My first trip was to learn about Chinese medicine and the culture.  I got addicted to jade on the plane flying to China when I saw a flight attendant wearing a jade bangle bracelet.  I was working, and saving every extra dollar I could for my "summer vacation" trip to go back to China.  I found a Chinese PhD student at College of Wooster to teach my Chinese language.  Even though I didn't become very fluent in Mandarin, the fact that I had learned enough for basic communication earned me respect, especially when I was shopping.  I met a Chinese doctor on my second trip and we became friends, associates, and worked together.  I also met a jade seller in northeastern China who was a seller of Chinese jade, and we also became friends and associates. 

At that time,  the ability to speak Chinese, respect culture and look professional made a huge difference in jade shopping.  When I spoke Chinese to the jade sellers, and they saw the excellent quality the jade bangle I was wearing, the would pull out boxes hidden under their tables or in storage to show me the best quality of jade they had.  And since I spoke Chinese to "bargain" with them, I got very good prices on the jade.  (Professional jade shopping from the jade carvers, there are no prices on the jade.  Every piece is "bargained for".)

One of the items you could readily find in every shop in China was "Bigen",  China's classic black hair coloring product.  Gray hair was for "old people", and almost everyone colored their hair more black when their gray became obvious. 

My height is 67 inches, and that's considered "tall" in China, often more tall then men.  My natural hair color was dark-to-medium brown.  When I was 19 years old, I started getting gray hairs, probably due to hypothyroidism, and I was "way too young" even in America to have grey hairs, so I colored to match my natural hair hair.  By the time I started going to China, my color was light brown/dark blonde.  And my height, slenderness and hair color gave me a "good standing" in China.  Chinese people were always wanting their pictures taken with me, especially because jade shopping, I was going to parts of China Americans usually don't go to. 

Then the Lantos embargo on jadeite mined in Burma (Myanmar) started in 2008 so I couldn't shop for Burmese jadeite and bring that back with me, or ship it to my home, going through customs.  My last trip in 2009 was to meet with my associates in China, the jade carver, and explain what kind of Chinese jade I would want, and the quality of carving I expected.

I really missed going to China.  Every year, something new, and oh, my:  the adventures I had!

I had "retired" my regular job early, and we moved from Ohio to Florida.  My natural curly hair got really frizzy in humid central Florida, and hair color looked very frizzy.  So I lightened my hair color very gradually over the next few years, to light blonde.  Then I let it grow out for a couple of months, and got all the colored parts cut off.  I had no idea what my hair would look like "natural", and was quite pleased with mostly silvery-grey with little darker still underneath. 

I wanted to go to China a few years ago, and realized I would either have to use a temporary hair color or wear a wig, because I would lose my reputation with my friends and associates if they saw me so "gray and old".  I never told my age and they thought I was about 10 years younger than I really am.  And I really am reaching a time in life when I want  more time for "me", time to retire.  When I shopped in China, I brought back enough for two years selling online. 

So yes, I want to go back to China.  But no, I won't.  China has become so modern now, the hair issue might not matter as much.  But I do need to consider "slowing down" and having more time for recreational activities.

Isn't playing with jade recreational?   It is, for me!

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