Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, September 26 – Jade has been a highly sought after gemstone in China for thousands of years. It actually was first used for its hardness as tools before being used for its beauty. There is an ancient Chinese proverb that says “You can put a price on gold, but jade is priceless.” I never knew much about jade (I still don’t really!) and when I came to China, I was surprised at all the colors of jade! I always associated it with green, but it can naturally be red, yellow, lavender, white, black, or green. There is a lot of jade jewelry in China, many ornaments and decorations, and even special jade markets. An interesting jade piece you see often is the jade cabbage. Chinese cabbage is called “bai cai,” which has the same sound (but different characters) as “bai cai” the words for “numerous wealth.” Thus, the jade cabbage is another good luck charm, put in your home or your business to bring in wealth. There is a famous jadeite cabbage statue in a museum in Taiwan, which also has a cricket and a katydid carved in it. There is an old poem where supposedly these insects represent having many children and grandchildren, so I’ve been told that there are often insects hidden in the carved cabbages (but I’ve never been able to find one!) The pictures are from various places around us where we’ve seen jade cabbages, and also an art print of the cabbage and insects. jade, cabbage,