Pearl City
(Pearl City: a lady making pearl earrings, my pearl necklace is in the foreground)
I accompanied Sisi on a trip to China Pearl and Gem City, famed for it’s freshwater Pearls. I had no real expectations, only a hope that the entire place would be encrusted with pearls and gems, like an emerald city. It wasn’t quite that opulent, but the open ground floor of the building has pearl shops running around the walls and stalls collected in the centre. (Apparently the shops sell better quality pearls.)
We met some of Sisi’s friends and they talked pearls until we left them to do our own browsing. I have never seen so many pearls; each shop has a front half for display and a back room for storage, making the jewellery and choosing pearls. Usually one can choose specific pearls to be made into an item of choice at the time. We took advantage of Sisi’s good friend and her superior pearls to have earrings made, that’s what you can see here. I chose them and she drilled them, fixed them and glued them for me. There were so many items made of pearls: necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, hairpieces, coronets, models of horses, pigs, and others. I’m positive that if the price was right, these people could make anything out of pearls.
There is a claim that pearls have medicinal properties and that wearing them can cure cancer, improve skin condition and treat a whole host of ailments. I decided to make a purchase, just in case. Whilst I would love to own some white opalescent pearls, I tried them on and from the faces of onlookers, I realised they accentuated my already alabaster white complexion. A surprise choice of pink pearls was the winner, to match my earrings.
i think the chinese freshwater pearl is quite nice. i like its lustre. and it is much cheaper. pearl is used as medicine in chinese trational medicine. people grind it into powder and mix it with water. however, i think it is the one produced by nature.