An assortment of jade for sale in Ruili

Journal and photos by Neil Dana

Ruili, a border town in China next to Myanmar, filled with mostly Chinese people and quite a few Burmese trying to sell jade wherever we walk, is where we have been for the last five days and will be for two more. We are the only foreigners I have seen here, except one person from Nigeria whom we met, named Efe who is the first person to try and teach English in this large town. The streets are all torn up, rarely blessed with a sidewalk, instead filled with craters and sewage holes that are very dangerous if you happen to fall in one. The streets are bustling with people, vendors, fruits, even a water park, go-carts, bumper cars, and all kinds of restaurants. There are places to buy a nice suit for $12 or a shabby one for $5. We almost bought a few, but they didn't have any long enough for us, since we are six feet tall, and that is not the norm here in China. There are also all kinds of things to eat, like tasty brains, heart, eyeballs, dog, intestines and turtle. Mmmn mmn. I haven't tried any of those delicacies yet, and doubt I will. It is great to see it all on display, though.

And of course, ordering food or anything else is hilarious, since we don't speak any Mandarin and all the people here speak NO ENGLISH. If you are lucky, they know how to say “hello.” Whenever I try to talk to someone, they will rattle off in Mandarin as if I can understand; it is really funny. People have even sat down with us at restaurants and talked to us for thirty minutes, and we have no clue what one another said. This is truly the most foreign place I have ever been, and I love it. You would think that a border town that is not aesthetically beautiful, and run down would be a bummer to spend time in, but in truth it is my favorite place we have stayed in China. It is 100% Chinese, and it is not geared towards foreigners, and that is really fantastic to experience. Going out in the evening to eat is great. There are small houses and families that have turned their abode into a restaurant, and the family sits around and talks and plays games, and you can go eat there and hang with them. There is this game they play with their hands where they both throw their hands into the middle of the people playing and hold out a number between one and ten, and they both scream out what they guess the total will be. They keep doing this until one of the people gets the right number, and then the other has to drink a milkshake. It is sort of like the Rock, Paper, and Scissors game. They also play tons of dominoes and cards. China is a big gambling country, and people are in the streets everywhere here playing cards and having a blast.

Ruili is also a place where it is very popular to buy and sell jade. The jade comes from Burma, yet the craftsmanship is better here in Ruili, so you get the best of both worlds here. Today, I went walking around the jade market, which is filled with all kinds of vendors selling bracelets, rings, carved jade pieces, and full jade stones that haven't been carved. You can buy heaps of jade if you wish; it is really inexpensive and there are hundreds of markets to choose from. There are also Burmese guys running around the streets with jade wrapped up in red paper in small bags that they try to pawn off constantly, or take you to a jade shop that either they or a friend owns.

There were also places where you can actually watch people carving the jade. It is quite a process and takes a long time. These people work hard and make beautiful pieces of art from these rocks. There are different qualities of jade as well, such as the very clear jade that you can see through, or the milky white jade, or the greener jade. There is red jade, too. My favorite is the clear jade with hints of green. Unfortunately for me, it is also the most expensive, so I haven't bought any yet, and don't know if I will. It is just a rock, for Heaven's sake.

So Ruili has been a very good experience, and it is really a treat to be in such a foreign country. We have had some time getting used to the Asian cultures. In Singapore, Malayasia and Thailand, there was plenty of English. In Cambodia, there was a bit less, and in Laos, the English really started dropping off, and now in China, bye bye, no more English. Of course in some towns there is more English, like when we were in Dali, which was much more tourist-oriented. But out on the country roads and here in Ruili, we are in the heart of China. Thank goodness we have Ma, who is our guide. When we all go to eat with him, he orders all the food for us and we end up with an amazing assortment of delicious food. I am so impressed with the food in China, especially the Yunnan Province; it is spicy and very tasty. However, when we go eat without Ma, it becomes comedy. We usually resort to only eating at places where we can point to food items that are on display or on someone else’s table. There are also the Chinese Markets, which have such a wide variety of goodies to choose from, such as marinated and dried spicy mushrooms, or honey-glazed walnuts, yak jerky, corn-flavored candy, and all the green tea you can imagine. I never really explored the Chinese markets back home, but when I get back to California, I am going straight to Chinatown and finding some of these treats that they have mastered.

Well, I am off now to go get some spicy beef on a stick barbecued and mixed with some noodles and sauteed vegetables, all for $1.

Neil

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