I don't know if I protect the jade, or the jade protects me, or maybe both. The backlashes of tropical storm Isaac started coming through last night. There was a lot of rain and flooding, and tornado warnings. Half of the storm has already passed and we are all safe, even though the flood waters have crept up around us and affected some of the neighbors. The first couple of years we lived in Florida I would get the jade out of our poorly constructed home to a safer place, but I think jade and I both feel better under the same roof. I found a real beauty to list as a new item today, and Daily Special for tomorrow, it was one that stood out as having good balance and protection, and "butterfly" mossy tracks for dealing with difficult situations. Not only beautiful, but healthy and protective. That's our jade. (If you are reading this, you have a heads up and can purchase at tomorrow's Daily Special price today, click here). August 27

Tropical storm Isaac is on it's way to Florida. This morning the sky was gray and cloudy, and the air very heavy. The track is through the Florida Keys, then southwest Florida, the Ft Myers area, then north through the Gulf of Mexico. We are on the east side, which means we get some wicked weather, including lots of rain and possible tornadoes, starting later this afternoon. If we lose power and internet here, you won't see the Daily Special updates, and of course we won't be able to ship. And of course I am protecting all our precious jade! August 26

I've heard from a couple of customers who have had problems ordering online the past few days. Being a small business, I don't have access to the high tech shopping carts systems that cost thousands of dollars each month. But ours has been generally reliable. If you have trouble ordering, clear your cache (cookies) wait a few minutes and try again. Most of the problem with not getting orders successfully completed is actually because of customer credit card banks. Sometimes credit card banks and companies don't like the name "Ying Yu Jade" and are "protecting" you by declining the purchase. Other times, it's because of using a debit card, where the total is "claimed" by your debit card bank, and then when you change an order as you are checking out, it looks like a duplicate order and is declined by the bank. And Apple products, computers, iPads reject the business industry predominant window based technology. Lots of fun, ordering! If you just can't check out, go to the trouble shooting information and click the link to the self service check out form. It's the form we used for years before we got shopping cart system in 2006. If you have a problem be sure to contact me and we can get your order processed manually. August 23

I was looking for some new earrings to buy now that my hair is getting longer, maybe some dangly ones. My internet search took me to HSN web site, and some of the earrings that showed up were jade earrings. I did a search on the HSN web site to see what kind of jade they had available. All of it is dyed jade, color treated. There's nothing wrong with color treated jade, and that's the most common kind of jade you see in jewelry stores, department stores. Women love deep green, lavender, yellow and red jade and the only way to get these color are to buy color treated. But I was surprised that HSN, once a leader in nice jade jewelry, had all dyed pieces. Even jewelry stores that sell color treated jade sell it for respectable prices, hundreds of dollars if it's set in gold, even sterling silver. I even found some Mason Kay jade jewelry that is color treated. One of my girlfriends came back from China showing off her multicolor jade link bracelet she paid a fortune for, the quality of the jade is nice but she has a certificate that it's all natural color, but it is so color treated, and very obviously so. I have a a couple of dyed jade pendants I wear with certain outfits, and they are very pretty. So don't discount color treated jade if you are looking for a deeper color in a metal setting. YYJ doesn't sell the costume and/or fine metal jewelry, but there's a lot available online and in stores. I was looking for dangly sterling silver, maybe two-tone sterling, and the search continues. August 18

We had great weather, the water was warm, sun was hot. We wandered down to South Beach Lincoln street where the road is closed and made into a mall, lots of outdoor eating, drinking and fun. And the highlight of dinner and show was Mai Kai Tiki Bar, the only "real" tiki bar from the 1950's that we've ever been able to find here, fabulous drinks, delicious dinner, great show. No one was wearing jade except in one of the New Zealand parts the dancers wore green jade pendants. Yesterday was "make an offer" day, and I should have added "make an offer" on part of this jade business, including the JadeBangleBracelets web site, which is so popular it shows up on pages 1 or 2 in Google, Yahoo, for the key words "jade bangle", all of the jade bangles on that site, most of the jadeite bangles BB and BC on Ying Yu Jade, and lots of secret, hard earned information to make your new jade bangle business successful. I'm ready to take more time off. It's a very good time to buy a jade business because I'm so busy I really need to hire more help, both men and women love jade bangle bracelets, and when you make your customers happy they return for more. You would get the Jade Bangle Bracelets web site, or if you are in an Asian area, a Chinatown, you could have a store (and a web site). I'm ready to sell if you are ready to buy the web site and jade bangles as described, about 135 on JBB and and 275 on YYJ. If you are a jade bangle lover, think of all the fun you will have trying them on and playing with them before you sell them! August 16

I'm taking a summer break until Wednesday, going to Miami to enjoy the beaches. I like Miami area, especially the northern Miami beaches and South Beach. It's fun because I can wear my "age inappropriate" clothes and not feel out of place. I have custom made jade necklaces I plan to wear because they are big and my sundresses show a lot of skin so everything balances, and I like to wear the flower jadeite necklaces and bracelets , and jade and pearl necklaces to wear out in the evening. Cool jade will look and feel so good in hot Miami. And I will wear the jade bangle I wear all the time to the beach, but be careful not to let it get in direct sun. I don't "sit out" in the direct sun, and wear a lot of sunscreen. Heat is one of the method that is used for color enhancing jadeite, and jade left in direct sun will change color and become brittle. I am outside in the sun every day, but as long as I don't let my jade bangle set in direct sunlight for more than a few minutes, it still retains its beauty. Shipping will resume again August 15, or if the weather gets bad I will come home and still take a break with some summer reading. August 11

This is a link to a video a blog reader shared with me from CNTV. It's in Chinese with English subtitles:
http://jishi.cntv.cn/humhis/zoubianzhongguo/classpage/video/20120801/100003.shtml
The jade city in the video is the area where I go to buy jadeite when I shop in China. It's remote, takes a long bus ride to get there from Guangzhou. But the jadeite is much better quality than in the Guangzhou jade market. And the video explains what makes jadeite valuable, giving an example of pendants and carvings. Jade purchased inland and near the Burma border is a higher quality and nicer that commerical quality, and because I like to buy and sell jade that I personally would wear, I must go to these remote jade cities and personally make purchases. Sometimes customers wonder about what makes similar pieces so different in price, and the reason is the quality of the stone and the carving of it. Some of the carved jadeite bangle bracelets have had the "meditation" of the jade carver prior to carving to make best use of the jade stone and the way it will be carved. YYJ offers a few of these very finely carved bangle bracelets, and the prices reflect the quality, but are still priced the same or lower than one would pay retail in China. And tourists to China pay the highest prices. As an American jade buyer, it is difficult for me to be accepted as not a tourist, and I have learned how to present myself and speak enough Chinese, and with my knowledge of jade stone, I can be taken seriously and bargain a "Chinese" price. Ying Yu Jade is a different jade web site because of the selection of traditional jade, the kind of jade Asian and Chinese people cherish. While people who don't really "know" jade might think our prices are high, the Asian people, especially those outside of USA, gladly pay the prices because they know they are getting a price better than they can get even in Asia. I don't want the jades to sit in a box in my inventory, so they are priced to sell. And those jade lovers "in the know", know that. I think that's why potential customers who have not purchased from YYJ ask if the jade is genuine and natural, because if they know they, they also know the prices are actually low. August 9

Jade bangle bracelets are NOT YYJ's biggest seller, but they are some of the highest price items we sell, and generate the most questions and comments of all of our products. I wear a jade bangle bracelet all the time, and have worn one for many years, and I buy them, so I understand about how particular many women are about their potential jade bangle purchase. I know what it's like to wear jade bangles that are too big, too small, cracked or damaged, carved, rounded inside, flat inside, on my dominant wrist, on my non-dominant wrist, to work and play with it on....24/7 jade bangle wearing. I understand what you are asking when you ask about if a wider one will fit like a standard width, or how an oval shape jade bangle fits. Can a male jade bangle seller do that: understand and deal with all the questions? I'd like to know what you think. August 5

Yesterday I was contacted by a reputable jeweler who has a major company in USA, interested in purchasing some of the Burmese jadeite bangle bracelets. YYJ has an excellent collection of fine quality jadeite, great natural color, and very good prices. We are often contacted by jewelery companies world-wide who want to purchase the jadeites because most were purchased in 2002-2004 and before the Lantos embargo, and before prices rapidly increased, while there was still the good natural colors available. I'm considering selling out, but want to offer YYJ customers a chance to purchase these first. This is "make an offer weekend", an opportunity for you to get a good jadeite bangle at a much lower price than you would pay through a major brick-and-mortar jewelry store. Click here for more details and to make an offer. August 3

A customer who was interested in purchase jade ben wa balls had sent my some questions by email. During our discussion she mentioned that her sister had purchase some surgical steel ben wa balls at a party for a lower price than the jade ben wa balls. She asked if there was a really a difference. The question to ask is: do you want to put an unknown metal into yourself, or a pure and natural jade? Metal is so yang energy, and more yang than even the darker green yang ben wa balls. It's not a "womans element". So yes, there is a very big difference, both in material, and energetically. I cringe just visualizing using metal ben wa balls! August 2

The Calm Spirit / Ying Yu Jade complete August newsletter is available online now, click here. This month features Chinese medicine wellness information for June regarding balance of body, mind and spirit. There is information about what kind of jade to wear this month if you wear jade for your health, and more. August 1

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