Dushan Jade (that's Not Really Jade)

One thing I love about jade is the variety - Both nephrite and jadeite come in a rainbow of colors (or actually more than that, since there are inky jade as well as colorless one) and tons of textures (this only applies to jadeite) and in case I am little sick of the two (however unlikely that is), there are always non-jade jade, other pretty precious minerals to play with.

Dushan Jade (the closest to it would be saussurite, even though it's more of a mixture of different minerals), also called Nanyang (its origin in China) jade, is another stone that has been used decorative purposes for centuries. It has a smaller hardness compared to jadeite / nephrite (so they are usually polished into a waxy finish instead of a glassy one)  and comes in yellow, light green, deep teal and pink (yes, the soft baby pink). 
The two pieces of specimen I have are have are tiny pendants (possibly sew-on decoration) made from scraps. Most of the raw mineral comes with too many cracks so bigger pieces are no less expensive compared to the "real" jade. Anyway, I don't know much about those mineral (and don't plan to learn more) so I will just show you a recent acquisition that I haven't receive (God knows when would my mom send it to me...possibly in a year?). 
It's a bag charm with an white nephrite block (the black spots are imperfection but when there are enough of them to make a pattern, the jade would be nicknamed dragon fruit/sesame puree/ink splatter...depends on what the pattern is like) and a green Qinghai nephrite lotus pod...Love this kind of fresh mid-tone green, which is not as common because green jadeite is usually blue toned and minty and nephrite from Hetian are usually warm like matcha or spinach.

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