“Tai guei!” I exclaim, letting the vendor know in my limited Chinese that her price is too high. I feign shock as she shakes her head in denial, claiming the price is really very cheap.
“Lian bai kwai,” I counter, thinking NT$200 is a reasonable price. It’s the woman’s turn to pretend surprise and counter with a higher offer for the jade, sandal-shaped pendant we’re bargaining over. I go a couple of rounds with her, then walk away. She calls me back, but I’m warned about buying the emerald-green jade.
“Jade that looks really green, the color of emerald, is either a fake or very, very expensive,” my friend, April Brasier, tells me, explaining that a genuine piece of pendant sized green jade might go for NT$800,000. She should know. Her grandfather was a Jade dealer during the Japanese occupation, before they were forced off the island after WWII. He taught her some skills to tell good from bad, and she’s spent a good deal of time exploring Taiwan’s jade markets. Although she’s several days overdue for the birth of her first child, she’s still agreed to meet me at Tainan’s New Jade Market to share some of her expertise.
The New Jade Market is packed with Chinese who have come to shop, look, and sell. The name Jade Market is misleading, though. Jade is for sale in large quantities, of course, but the place is packed with stalls selling paintings, sculptures, “artifacts” taken from tombs (all fake, April assures me), and even medicinal herbs.
We look through the stalls and April explains what it actually is that we’re looking at. The bright red and yellow balls that I’ve always taken for plastic turn out to be a kind of wax, and the numerous pendants and fetishes reveal their secrets to me under Aprils tutelage. The fake jade sandals I was bargaining over are supposed to be good luck for travelers, and other items have there own special significance; frogs with coins in their mouths bring money to your business, as do Uen Bai, talismans shaped like ancient Chinese money. The numbers 9, 8, and 6 respectively bring long term success, great fortune, and smoothness in your affairs. Most of the tokens can be bought quite cheaply.
“You can get really small pieces for great prices, like 3 for NT$5,” April tells me. I ask her about getting a good deal on genuine jade, and she’s a little less optimistic.
“It’s becoming more and more difficult to tell the real from the fake. It used to be easier. The forgers are getting very high tech. Sometimes you just have to count on your luck. The only way to tell without machines or experts to help is to wear it and see if it fades.”
Which is not to say you can’t get good jade here. But you do have to be careful. If you do find a piece you want to bet on, wear it. If it fades, you’ve bought a fake. If not, you’re doing what is traditionally the best way to care for jade; the oil from human skin is supposed to be good for it, and wearing the jade for a long time is known as “raising jade,” much like raising children. So go to the market, look around, bargain, have fun, and don’t spend too much, because who knows what you’re buying. But if you’re lucky—and jade is all about luck—then you’ll have something that will last a lifetime.
The New Jade Market is located on Lingan Road, just north of the Minsheng Road intersection. It’s open Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday 8:00 AM ~ 4:30 PM. Tuesday is traditionally the best day to go.
Sidebar:
If you’re not careful it’s easy to pay the month’s rent on a piece that catches your eye, but follow a few simple rules and you’ll likely get the piece you want at a price you can be proud of.
Come early in the day. Many vendors believe that once the first business of the day is done the rest of the day will be more profitable. That means there willing to come down more on their prices.
Don’t be intimidated. Bargain hard. Offer half the asking price, and work from there. Unless you absolutely have to have the piece, walk away when it looks like they won’t come down any more and let them call you back. Of course, they might not call you back!
Always ask for the name cards of the vendors when the sale is concluded, in case some problem should arise.
It’s easier to get good deals, of course, if you bring a Chinese friend. If you have a friend who speaks Cantonese, so much the better, as many of the vendors here are from Guandong province.