April of 2014 brought a trip to China with hopes of acquiring mineral specimens from some exciting new finds. Of course no adventure in mineral buying in China would be complete without the local cuisine and interactions with the populous.
Arriving in Guilin, China to look at big rocks! Selenite carved nodule ready for sale.
What do you do with giant tree roots? Carve them into lions for your veranda of course!
Hey; when things are slow in any mineral venue, what do you do.... play Mahjong of course!
Highly advanced IV etching apparatus for plumbogummite covered pyromorphites!
Another load packed for shipment to Open Adit West/Mine Rat Minerals.
A really artistic rendition of the spinel crystals from Vietnam on display at the mineral market.
Looking at the big stuff on display.
Conference on shipping that will take hours, and multiple trips to eat.
Tasty food in Guilin, China. An excellent dish of Eggplant skins lightly cooked in the flaming wok with garlic and Chiles!
A close up of the tasty Eggplant Skins in Guilin, China.
A new lot of the Plumbogummite in Guilin, China.
Cruising the different shops looking for interesting material to buy.
Another look at the view of a new Plumbogummite over Pyromorphite with a viewing field of 12 cm.
A really nice Plumbogummite over Pyromorphite crystals from DaoPing.
Wow...a really beautiful piece from the Shangbao Mine in Hunan, Province,China. Piece measures 48cm by 36 cm overall and the individual fluorites are almost 6cm!
Everyone's happy before the prices start flying back and forth!
Another beautiful fluorite group from the Shangbao Mine in Hunan Province.
Another shot in a different light of the Shangbao Mine combination piece from Hunan Province.
Time for a selfie with Wendy from Wendy's Minerals and Mei Shan in YangShuo.
Enjoying the view of the Karst topography in Yangshou, Guangxi Province, China.
Typical surrounding view traveling the roads around YangShuo, Guangxi Province, China.
Another view of the Karst topography around Yangshou, Guangxi Province, China.
Getting ready to pick out fresh fish for the famous Beer Fish in YangShuo, Guangxi Province, China. The fish is quickly seared in the wok and then lightly stewed in the local beer.
The kitchen is getting ready for our order to be cooked in YangShuo, Guangxi Province, China.
Fresh vegetables ready for a quick blanching to be served in YangShuo, Guangxi Province, China.
The finished plates of food! The plates consist of cooked bamboo slivers to the bottom left and steamed river snails to the upper left and the stewed beer fish in the middle with a plate of pumpkin leaves quickly blanched to the right!
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