Chinese jade gua sha board,gua sha in Semi-Precious Stone Crafts

The well-known Chinese “four great jades” are “Hetian jade” of Xinjiang, “Xiuyan jade” of Xiuyan town of Liaoning province, “Dushan jade” of Nanyang town of Henan province and “calaite” of Yun town of Hubei province.

Hetian jade

Hetian jade is mainly distributed in Xinjiang’s Shache — Tashikuergan town, Hetian — Yutian town and Qiemo town. This kind of jade contains tiny diopside, ophiolite, black lead and magnet and other minerals. The colors of the jade vary. There are white, turquoise, black and yellow and other colors. Most of the jade is monochrome jade, and a few are variegated. The quality of the jade is semitransparent, and after polishing, the colors are similar to that of fat. Its rigidity ranges from 5.5 degrees to 6.5 degrees. Hetian jade can usally be found mountains’ rock where the altitude is between 3,500 meters to 5,000 meters.

The breed of Hetian jade can be divided into eight species according to different colors and degrees of purity. They are white jade, suet white jade, white-greenish jade, gray jade, yellow jade, sugar jade, dark jade and jasper

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Dushan jade

Dushan jade is also known as “Nanyang jade” or “Nan jade”, which is produced in Dushan just north of Nanyang city. As one of the Chinese four great jades, the quality of Dushan jade is tough and dense, exquisite, soft and moist, and its color is transparent. It has six colors: green, white, yellow, purple, red and black.

Calaite

Calaite is similar to emerald. It got its name because its color and shape is like a dark green pinecone. Calaite is one of the rare valuable diamonds in the world, and the goods produced with calaite have become an important collectable.

People have always been attracted to its green color and the grain of calaite. In ancient times, people related calaite with religion and superstition. In Tibet, people especially respect calaite. They see calaite as a divine decorative accessory, which can be used for rituals.

The color of calaite may differ because of the different elements it contains. Calaite will appear blue in color if it contains coppery oxide, and it will appear green if it contains iron oxide. The color of calaite is an important factor which can affect its quality.