Original source: Carving Machine Network http://www.gravograph.cn/
Qinghai Kunlun Jade "Bid for the Olympics" Major Events
March 27, 2007, the Beijing Organizing Committee announced that the design of the medals for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games had been finalized. The jade used in the medals was determined to be white jade, green-white jade, and green jade.
After receiving the news from the Beijing Organizing Committee, Haixi Prefecture and Golmud City quickly took action, actively preparing for various tasks. Golmud City submitted a report to the provincial government offering to provide the jade needed for the production of the Olympic medals free of charge. The provincial government immediately convened experts in the industry for a special meeting to study the application to the Beijing Organizing Committee to designate Qinghai Kunlun Jade as the material for making the Olympic medals.
April 14, 2007, the provincial government officially sent a request letter to the Beijing Organizing Committee requesting that Qinghai Kunlun Jade be designated as the jade material for producing the medals for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
April 22, 2007, Party Secretary Qiang Wei specifically made comments on this matter, requiring relevant departments and localities to do their work carefully, showcasing the spirit of the plateau people cheering for the Beijing Olympics, enhancing the reputation of Qinghai Kunlun Jade, and expanding its influence abroad.
September 28, 2007, officials and experts from the Beijing Organizing Committee arrived in Golmud, accompanied by Golmud city leaders, where they conducted detailed inspections of the Kunlun Jade mining site, processing enterprises, and Kunlun Jade products, discussed related issues, and reached consensus.
January 2, 2008, the Beijing Organizing Committee and the Qinghai Provincial Government held a Kunlun Jade donation ceremony in Beijing. The Beijing Organizing Committee decided that all gold, silver, and bronze medals for the 29th Olympics in 2008 would be inlaid with rings made from Qinghai Kunlun Jade donated by the province.
Jade from Kunlun Recognized Worldwide
When the first rays of sunlight rose over the horizon of the Qaidam Basin in 2008, when the people of Golmud basked in the brilliant light of "China's Olympic Year," they finally clearly felt that the glory bestowed by the "five rings" on this western highland city had never been so close. Whether it is the auspicious mascot Tibetan antelope "Yingying" heading towards the Olympics or all the upcoming Olympic medals - gold-inlaid jade (Kunlun jade), silver-inlaid jade (Kunlun jade), and bronze-inlaid jade (Kunlun jade) - have become keys for this city to open its doors to the world, invaluable keys!
Golmud has thus drawn global attention and stepped onto the world stage. In this lofty and refreshing place, a "beauty" on the瀚sea and Gobi Desert is slowly unveiling her mysterious veil under the world's gaze.
The Unique Geographic Advantage of Kunlun Jade
Looking at the Kunlun Mountains stretching south of Golmud, we cannot help but marvel at the wonders of nature and admire its renown as the ancestor of national mountains and father of glaciers. And Golmud, located at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains, uniquely embodies the charm of the plateau.
The Kunlun Mountains, originating from the eastern Pamir Plateau, span across Xinjiang and Tibet, extending eastward into Qinghai Province, covering a length of more than 2500 kilometers.
Historical records show that the Kunlun is a massive uplifted block on earth. Ancient books sometimes refer to Kunlun as "Xu" or "Qiu," meaning "the ancestor of all mountains" and "the ancestor of dragon veins."
The continuous movement and collision between the Kunlun and Himalayan Mountains formed a magical mineral structure under the combined effects of enormous compression forces between tectonic plates and magma beneath the earth's crust, known as Kunlun jade.
Resource Advantages of Kunlun Jade
It is well known that more than 2000 years ago, the patriotic great poet Qu Yuan once lamented, "I roamed with Zhonghua in the garden of jade, climbed the Kunlun Mountain and ate jade sprouts."
In fact, the origin of Kunlun jade is near the legendary Queen Mother of the West's Jade Pool, only about 250 km southwest of Golmud city.
In 1991, a herdsman first discovered a kind of milky white, glossy, translucent stone in the Nacita region of the Kunlun Mountains in Golmud. Relevant departments soon confirmed it as jade, which shares a "blood connection" with Hetian jade.
According to industry insiders, the total proven reserves of jade mines in the Golmud area are abundant. After just over a decade of development, Qinghai Kunlun jade, which had remained hidden for billions of years, established itself as one of the four major soft jade production areas in China due to its fine texture and elegant freshness.
Superior Quality of Kunlun Jade
Experts told reporters that Kunlun jade mainly consists of "tremolite" and "actinolite" forming a fibrous microcrystalline aggregate. It comes in varieties such as "white jade", "green jade", "green-white jade", "yellow jade", "black jade", and "emerald green jade". Its texture is fine and smooth, after processing, it becomes lustrous and elegant, clean and transparent, beautiful and durable. It is currently recognized by the international jewelry industry as a high-quality gemstone category, characterized by large size, few cracks, good carvability, toughness, and resistance to breakage, making it a top-tier jade.
Taking advantage of the strengths of Kunlun jade, this rising star has rapidly gained prominence in the domestic jade industry; seizing the opportunities of time and location, the main production area of Golmud focuses on craftsmanship, making jade products renowned worldwide; leveraging human advantages, Golmud establishes specialized markets, builds marketing systems, allowing Kunlun jade to become widely popular globally.
Through the efforts of government departments, Kunlun jade products from Golmud have entered prestigious exhibitions, frequently winning gold and silver awards, marking a significant step for Qinghai Kunlun jade stepping out from obscurity.
Golden Jade Union - A Once-in-a-Millennium Five-Ring Effect
On January 2, 2008, Qinghai Kunlun jade was officially designated as the jade for the Beijing Olympic medals. Its profound connotations of beauty, respect, mutual love, and assistance perfectly symbolize the Olympic spirit. The people of Qinghai donated what they consider the most sacred and beautiful gift in a unique way to interpret and present this beauty to the world. For the people of Golmud, the hometown of Kunlun jade, this sense of pride is indescribable.
The creative concept of the Olympic medal draws inspiration from the ancient Chinese dragon pattern jade bi, composed of "gold" and "jade" symbolizing nobility and virtue. For the first time in the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization, the perfect union of gold and jade has been realized.
Qinghai freely donated specially selected, uniformly colored top-grade Qinghai Kunlun sheep fat white jade raw materials for the production of Olympic gold medals, further enhancing the fame of Kunlun jade worldwide. Using jade as a medium, Golmud has achieved success, promoted Qinghai, and Qinghai Kunlun jade has become the "golden business card" presented by Golmud, Qinghai, and even the entire western part of China to the world.
Kunlun Jade Culture Brand Effect
"Gold originates from beautiful water, jade comes from Kunlun mountain"
— Thousand Character Classic
Records from a thousand years ago document that Kunlun jade originated from the Kunlun mountain ridge. Numerous historical documents and literary works contain extensive records about Kunlun culture. Promoting jade culture through its origin has indisputably become the core brand for Golmud facing the world.
Indeed, the Kunlun Mountains, spanning the Qinghai Plateau and enjoying the title of "ancestor of all mountains," are the mountains with the most mythical legends and the most mysterious places among majestic peaks. Throughout history, they have driven the integration and convergence of various ethnic groups in China, nurturing the profound Kunlun culture.
Among the earliest legends is the deity with a human face and tiger body, having a tail, guarding there, later transforming into a beautiful woman—the Queen Mother of the West. She is said to be the immortal master of Kunlun Mountain. The "Jade Pool" recorded in many ancient books is said to be the Black Sea, the source of the Kunlun River. Here, the weather is varied, birds gather in flocks, and wild animals such as yaks, Tibetan antelopes, and brown bears appear around the lake. This is the birthplace of the Taoist Kunlun sect. As China's first divine mountain, Kunlun Mountain has left countless beautiful legends and unsolved mysteries over thousands of years.
Hometown of Jade - Startling Tourism Effects
Golmud is the hometown of Qinghai Kunlun jade. Seventeen years ago, the discovery of Kunlun jade here caused a sensation, and tourists began arriving in groups.
Today's Golmud presents us with such Kunlun jade carvings: wildly robust Tibetan yaks, spirited Tibetan antelopes, elegant landscape figures, giving endless imagination and aesthetic enjoyment.
Whether traveling or doing business, entering Golmud, the jade shops spread throughout the city will make you linger. The exquisite jade carvings, whether large or small pieces, captivate your heart. Smaller items are irresistible, expressing feelings through jade or clarifying aspirations with jade. The dazzling array of jade articles is gradually becoming Golmud's main tourism product.
Golmud's "Highland Characteristic Tourism Center" and "China Salt Lake City" tourism brands focus on promoting the Kunlun jade-based series of Kunlun tourism souvenirs through rich formats such as tourism goods design competitions and tourism promotion events. The fame of Qinghai Kunlun jade is igniting the passion of numerous domestic and international tourists—"Look at Kunlun, recognize jade sprouts." (Authors: Zhongliang, Yao Bin, Lian Jun)
Olympic Medal Jade Knowledge Window
The diameter of the Olympic medal is 70 mm, thickness 6 mm. The front features the unified pattern specified by the International Olympic Committee—a winged standing Greek goddess and the Panathenaic Stadium in Greece. The back of the medal is inlaid with a jade bi inspired by the ancient Chinese dragon-pattern jade bi. The central metal graphic on the back is engraved with the Beijing Olympic emblem. The jade used in the medals includes white jade, green-white jade, and green jade. The overall medal is noble and elegant, rich in Chinese characteristics, not only celebrating the victors but also vividly interpreting the Chinese tradition of comparing virtue to jade since ancient times, representing another successful fusion of Chinese and Western cultures in the visual landscape project of the Beijing Olympics.
The selection and production processes for the jade rings used in the Olympic medals are extremely strict. High-tech digital carving equipment was utilized during the production process to meet the requirements for the jade used in the 2008 Olympic medals.
First, according to the requirements of the jade ring for the medals set by the Organizing Committee, three procedures were carried out to select the Kunlun jade raw materials: preliminary selection, coarse selection, and fine selection. Only materials without flaws, cracks, water lines, and with uniform coloration were selected for cutting into blocks. Based on the color, fineness, and oiliness of the material, specialized CNC machines were used for washing the surface, cutting circles, chamfering, etc. Then, a miniature groove was carved in the middle of the jade ring using a CNC round carving machine. After polishing, the semi-finished product was coated with wax and then passed inspection by the Gold-Inlaid Jade Project Group and Expert Group, ultimately becoming the globally watched Qinghai Kunlun jade ring for the Olympic medals.
Cultural Tours of Golmud—Searching for Treasures in the Ancestral Mountains
"Wearing bright moonlight and adorned with precious jade, the world is muddled and knows me not. I shall gallop high without looking back, riding on a blue dragon with a white dragon as my companion. I roam with Chonghua in the jade garden, ascend the Kunlun and eat jade sprouts. With heaven and earth, I live forever, with the sun and moon, I shine brightly."
— Chu Ci
More than 2000 years ago, the patriotic poet Qu Yuan dreamed of stepping on auspicious clouds, touring Kunlun, and eating jade sprouts.
"Ancestral Mountain" Produces Jade
Heaven and Earth dark yellow, Universe vast and empty,
Sun and Moon wax and wane, Stars arranged in order,
Cold comes and heat goes, Autumn harvests and winter stores,
Leap year completes the year, Music tunes the Yang,
Clouds rise to bring rain, Dew condenses to form frost,
Gold comes from beautiful water, Jade originates from Kunlun.
— Thousand Character Classic
The Kunlun Mountains, originating from the eastern Pamir Plateau, stretch across Xinjiang and Tibet, extending eastward into Qinghai Province, covering a length of more than 2500 kilometers (page 1385 of Cihai), enjoying the title of "ancestor of all mountains" in Chinese cultural history. The Kunlun Mountains have historically driven the mutual integration and convergence of the various ethnic groups in China, nurturing the profound Kunlun culture.
Ancient books sometimes refer to Kunlun as "Xu" or "Qiu," meaning "the ancestor of all mountains" and "the ancestor of dragon veins." According to legend, the Queen Mother of the West is the immortal master of Kunlun Mountain. The "Jade Pool" recorded in numerous ancient books is said to be the Black Sea, the source of the Kunlun River. Here, the weather is varied, birds gather in flocks, and wild animals such as yaks, Tibetan antelopes, and brown bears appear around the lake. This is the birthplace of the Taoist Kunlun sect.
Billions of years ago, the Himalayan orogeny formed a magical mineral structure—elegant and unique Kunlun jade, called "rare fossils" by geologists to represent the changes and evolution of nature.
South of the Kunlun Mountains lies Qinghai Golmud, the hometown of Kunlun jade.
The history of Kunlun jade development is