Jade Olympic Medals Surprise the World

According to BOCOG's design, gold medal will incorporate a light, fine jade set in its back while the silver has the white-greenish jade. A greenish jade will be used for the bronze medal.

Jade represents honor and virtue in traditional Chinese culture and the medal design is regarded to well combine Olympic spirit and Chinese culture, the publication said.

Kunlun jade recognized as a world-class jewelry

Kunlun jade is found in the Kunlun Mountains in Qinghai Province. The type of jade is now recognized as a world-class jewel. Kunlun Mountain is the birthplace of many legendary stories in China, and the discovery of Kunlun jade added more mystery to it. As Wei Zhoubin, general manager of Golmud Kunlun Jade Company introduces, Kunlun jade and Hetian jade are both found along the Kunlun mountains, the quality of Kunlun jade is no worse than that of Hetian jade.Jade carry with them beauty, respect, love and help in China. That's one reason that they have been chosen for the Olympic medal making.They compliment the Olympic spirit, the use of jade in Olympic medals will definitely spread China's rich jade culture to the world, while relaying the concept of "People's Olympics". Jade is also A Mirror of Chinese Culture.

The jade medals have become the talk of the town

In Chinese culture, jade is a symbol of class and elegance. According to Games officials, the medals combined western and eastern elements. For example, 13 kilograms of gold and 1.3 tons of silver were sourced from Australia, and nearly seven tons of bronze was sourced from Chile. While jade were collected from west China's Kunlun Mountain.

The designers put a seal between the inner layer and a groove to bond metal and jade. The seal can also buffer the effect of vibration to protect the jade against impact. Shanghai Mint was the official manufacturer of the medals. In Beijing, the jade medals have become the talk of the town.
The Olympic medals have caught the eyes of athletes and spectators from around the world. According to The Sun, for the first time in Olympic history, the Olympic medals blend metal and jade. The technique of inlaying jade into metal can be dated back to the Han Dynasty 2000 years ago.

Beijing Olympic Makes China Jade Popular

In Chinese, "jade"(yu) refers to a fine, beautiful stone with a warm color and rich luster that is skillfully carved. In Chinese culture, jade symbolizes nobility, perfection, constancy, and immortality. For ages, jade has been an intimate part of the lives of all Chinese people. It is considered the most valuable of all precious stones. Jade is found in mountains and riverbeds, and Chinese consider jade to be "the essence of heaven and earth."

Cutting of Jade is vital
Jade is an essence produced through the natural forces of rivers and mountains over eons. However, if it is not skillfully cut and polished, there is no way for the potential richness and luster that people prize to be expressed. The Chinese have a saying that goes. "If jade is not properly cut, it cannot be made into a useful utensil." Cutting is an important step in the process of producing jade articles.

Add special beauty for the Olympic medals
The medals for the 2008 Olympic games will be made in parts with Kunlun jade, which are found in the Kunlun Mountains in Qinghai Province. These will be the first Olympic medals to use non-metal material. How did Kunlun jade stand out from its competitors and become the material for making Olympic medals? Had it been difficult in using jade to make medals?

The quality of Kunlun jade is very high, no matter from its rigidity and exquisiteness. When People learnt that the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will use jade in the medals, they submitted the request letter for donating Kunlun jade to BOCOG immediately. Following extensive research and examination commissioned by BOCOG and conducted by jade experts and organizations, Kunlun jade was deemed to meet the requirements for making the Olympic medals. BOCOG then accepted the proposal for the jade donation from Qinghai Province.There are many jade dealers who wanted to donate, including representatives for Hetian jade, Xiuyan jade from Liaoning Province in northeast China and Dushan Jade from Henan province in central China. BOCOG invited experts to investigate Kunlun jade, and the result was if they chose Hetian jade, which is facing repletion of resources, it could hardly meet the quantity standard for making Olympic medals. Also, considering that athletes may toss the medals up into the air from excitement, there is a strict requirement for the rigidity of the jade. Kunlun jade passed the test.

Jade (Stone of Heaven by the Chinese) is priceless Testifying to how much the Chinese are fond of jade is this time-honoured proverb: "Gold may have a price, but jade is priceless." The value of gold can be determined by measuring its weight. Not jade. The value of a piece of jade is "assessed" by taking numerous factors into account. For example, the luster, purity and color, the sound it produces when struck, and when the jade piece was discovered or when and where a jade artefact was produced can affect a piece's value.

Changing trend Jadeite is becoming increasingly popular in western countries, at a time when more and more Chinese are taking a liking to diamonds. Westerners are fascinated not only by the fine stone itself, but more importantly by the cultural messages it carries. Now beiing olympic games has make china elements or china classic ornaments even more popular.

Jade as The Gem for Olympic Medals

The Beijing Olympic medals made of Kunlun Jade are the most special medals in the Olympic history ever. The Chinese medal designers have made the impressive medals with creativity and great techniques.

Jade carry the Olympic spirit well

Jade carry with them beauty, respect, love and help in China. They compliment the Olympic spirit, the use of jade in Olympic medals will definitely spread China's rich jade culture to the world, while relaying the concept of "People's Olympics".

Legendary Jade in Chinese history

Yu 玉 , the Chinese word for jade, is one of the oldest in the Chinese language. Its pictograph is said to have originated in 2950 BC, when the transition from knotted cords to written signs supposedly occurred. The pictograph represents three pieces of jade, pierced and threaded with a string; the dot was added to distinguish it from the pictograph for "ruler". Jade was traditionally defined by its "virtues", namely a compact, fine texture, tremendous toughness and high hardness, smooth and glossy luster, along with high translucency and the ability to take a high polish (Wang, 1994).

Mystical powers to the Jade

But they also ascribe mystical powers to the stone. Particularly popular is the belief that jade can predict the stages of one's life: If a jade ornament appears more brilliant and transparent, it suggests that there is good fortune ahead; so people often give it as a Wedding Gift, if it becomes dull, bad luck is inevitable. It's always a precious gift choice for putting into your Gift Baskets and send to your loved ones or best friends.

Kunlun jade stands out

Gold, silver and bronze medals will have the same design, with finer white jade in gold ones, light green jade in the silver ones, and dark green jade in the bronze. The flip side of the medals carry a design based on the origins of the Olympics in Greece. The most important and difficult step is to choose the right jade to make the medals. Only about 10% of the jade stones can be used for making the medals."The stones used for medals have to meet very high standard. Such as the color of the white jade used for gold medals should be the same. However, it's impossible to find identical pieces of jade since the patterns are all natural, not produced by machines." But no matter how difficult it is, Wei and his colleagues have tried their best to find the most similar ones for making the medals.

Designers have taken out all the jade stones in storage, and Kunlun Jade are the best ones.