Tuesday Photo Challenge – Unusual Stones
We took a family vacation to China. When we were in Beijing we visited one huge department store that sells items made with different kinds of stones. One piece of display caught my attention. The sign didn’t specify the kind of stone, but by looking at the price which was 1,800,000 Chinese Yen, I could tell that the stone must be unusual. I think it was a jadeite. The amazing thing was that one hundred horses were carved in this stone. All one hundred of them were galloping in different positions.
We also visited the Imperial Gaden in the Forbidden City which was the Imperial Palace from Ming Dynasty to the end of Qing Dynasty (1420 – 1912). One section of the Garden had the “Exotic” stones on display.
On another vacation, we went to London. While in London, we visited Stonehenge which is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England. Stonehenge consists a ring of standing stones with each stone around 13 feet high, 6 feet 11 inches wide and weighing 250 tons.
Frank’s Dutch Goes the Photo: Tuesday Photo Challenge – Stones
The Showers of Blessings 
Miriam, these are indeed some unusual stones. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you very much!
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Thank you, Frank!
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I liked that stone garden, second from the bottom. I assume it is a kind of rock garden.
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Yes, Frank, it is the rock garden in one section of the Imperial garden. It was a collection of rocks/stones, I understand.
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Lovely! 😍 Nice variety of stones! Even Stonehenge!
I wonder how long it took the person who carved those horses into that jadeite to do that… it must have taken years! It’s very impressive. (I also wonder how much 1,800,000 Chinese Yen is in dollars…)
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I think it’s the amount divided by 8 2x in the old value, 5 to 8 years ago.
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So, if my figures are correct… $450,000. Wow, that’s one expensive stone! 😳
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Yes, it sounds like it! Who would buy it?
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I don’t know; maybe someone who won the lottery! 😅
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Yes, or someone who has a lot of money already!
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True! 🙂
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🙂 🙂
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Thanks for sharing this beautiful piece of art, along with your vignette. You are giving me insight to what my cohorts from Asia have testified as great places to visit when I ask them to elaborate on historical sites in their country, during our online sessions as I teach them ESOL. I am glad this was added to your visual or physical library! Regards – https://missunderstoodparentalalienationnuggets.wordpress.com/
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Thank you so much! I like your blog. I visited you yesterday. Thank you for reading my post. Keep in touch!
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Some rich arty fart fella might! Art is in the eye of the beholder and unlike diamonds that weigh cost on cut, clarity and carats, jade has no benchmark prices. I know of one who paid couple of hundred thousand SGD for a purple jade bracelet☺
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Oh mine!! Is it kind of compulsive spending. It wouldn’t be something one would wear everyday!
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Wow! Really unusual stones. Pretty, especially the stones of many horses.
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Yes, it looks like it’s a jadeite, and costs 1,800,000 Chinese Yen!!
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Exquisite piece.
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Yes, I think so. Thanks for your comment!
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Quite incredible, Miriam. I have never seen any of these amazing stone formations/designs.
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Thank you, Robbie! Yes, they’re unusual!
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Wow I love those horses
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I looked at each of them. They all have different gestures but full of energy!
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Amazing 😳
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I would say in general Chinese craftsmanship is amazing!
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Wow Miriam! Fascinating about the department store. Thank you 😚😚😚 Great contribution to Frank’s challenge. I love you! On vacation starting tomorrow. Love Debbie 💜
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Oh, great. Have a nice vacation! Love, Miriam
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Thank you so much!!
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You’re so welcome, Debbie. Sorry for not checking the spam folder for 8 days. Hope you’re having a great vacation!
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I am sure in reality the horses one must be very stunning and interesting piece of Art!
Thanks for sharing 😊
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I think it is a jadeite. It costs 1,800.000 Chinese Yen. 🙂
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You are good in being conservative😊 But it is a fascinating piece of sculpture
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Yes, the listing price was 1,800,000 yen. It’s a fortune to me!
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*Eye popping* – that is a tad too rich for my taste LOL!
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Do you think anyone would buy it?
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The unusual stones could be raw gemstones or jade which could be why it is costly. I know in China they have different types of rocks that are actually raw jadeite or something. So maybe?
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I think the first photo is jadeite, because it could be colored.
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I thought so too. Jade has many colors; purple, green, orangey etc. So it could be jadeite
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I think you’re right. We didn’t have time to ask, the tag doesn’t say, so I didn’t want to make it up.
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