There is also a beautiful legend about the Alamas Aji Jade Mine: In the early days, Alamas, a young man from Liushui Village, went hunting in the mountains and shot a yellow sheep. The injured yellow sheep ran up the mountain bleeding, and Alamas hurriedly
Follow the yellow sheep's blood trail upwards.
The yellow sheep finally couldn't run anymore and fell on the stone. Alamas was surprised to find that the stone turned out to be a large, crystal clear and moist white jade.
Alamas realized that the yellow sheep had sacrificed his life for him to find wealth. He was deeply moved. He buried the yellow sheep and went down the mountain with the jade in his arms in tears.
Later, the piece of jade was sold for a large price, and the first jade mine in Hotan was born.
In commemoration of Alamas' discovery of the first jade mine, the jade mine was named after him.
Now that Han Kongque and others were brought here by the Hu family and his son, they must look for the most advantageous background for their harvest.
Coming out of the mountain from here, the jade they found was naturally Hetian jade.
The mountain was closed due to heavy snow, so there were naturally a lot of jade pickers stranded here. However, Lao Hu and his son were well prepared, so they were arranged to stay at the home of Maimaiti, the deputy head of the Jade Village.
As soon as they entered his house, they saw blue and white jade mountain materials, which were piled up half the bed. Only then did Han Kongque and the others truly feel that the Jade Village was indeed worthy of its reputation.
In the evening, Maimaiti and Han Kongque were drinking, and the conversation naturally started. At this time, Han Kongque realized that the purpose of Lao Hu and his son was not that simple.
Maimaiti said that all the people in Jade Village are "Kunlun eagles" and "creepers", and the main way for them to make money is through grazing and digging jade.
The four jade mines have always been mined by the government or the big bosses at the foot of the mountain. However, from September to April every year, the weather is cold and the mountains are closed by heavy snow. The miners on the mountains can only go down to rest. No matter how good the jade is, they will
Nothing can be done.
However, this was the time when the people of the Jade Village were showing off their talents. Young people and experienced people in the village all went up to the mountain to pick up jade.
And Qian Mingyuan came here at this time with this idea in mind. Usually the big bosses wouldn't let anyone pick jade, but at this time, they couldn't control it.
Because the jade mines are filled with explosive jade stones. After the jade is exploded, the jade fragments fly all over the sky. It is impossible for the miners to pick up all the jade, so the villagers pick up the scattered mountain materials.
When they first dug jade, villagers used yak horns and red willow sticks to insert into the cracks of the jade rocks, then smashed them with big rocks. Later, they used steel drills and hammers to knock them out.
Now, I just pick up mountain materials on the cliffs and river valleys, which is much easier than digging for jade before.
Usually the snow line is above 4,000 meters above sea level, and the villagers of Yushi Village usually go to the Kunlun Snow Mountains above 5,000 meters above sea level to dig for jade. The road up the mountain is very dangerous, and some places can only accommodate one person's feet.
If you are not careful, you may fall into a 1,500-meter-deep cliff and a fast-flowing river.
"I almost died once. I remember that time I was carrying a piece of green and white jade down the mountain. The road was getting narrower and narrower, and the road conditions were getting worse. When I was about to reach the base camp at 4,500 meters, I slipped and fell into the 200-meter-high mountain.
Snow ditch.
After a lot of trouble, my companions rescued me, and I sold my green and white jade to others at a low price of 800 yuan, and vowed never to go to the mountains to pick jade again." Maimaiti said to Han Peacock and the others with infinite sadness.
said.
"After that, I saw jade prices skyrocketing and others getting rich one by one. I couldn't help it anymore. I went back to the mountains to pick jade. I gained a lot. My mountain climbing experience became more and more powerful. I became somewhat famous in Jade Village and even Hotan area.
I dare to climb any mountain.
Every time before I go up the mountain, I fill both pockets with tuba to prevent slipping when climbing. I sprinkle a handful of tuba on the ice so that I can climb with confidence. Once, I climbed more than 6,000 meters.
On the top of the snowy peak, I couldn't walk with my feet in the air, so I had to ride on the top of the peak, just like riding a horse, relying entirely on the cooperation of my arms and buttocks to move forward step by step.
In the end, I had no choice but to descend from the back mountain. From then on, I had the pride of an eagle conquering the mountains, and the highest peaks were all under my feet." Maimaiti's face was full of confidence.
Perhaps because he was afraid that Han Kongque and the others would not believe him, Maimaiti ran to the back room, took out an envelope, and took out a few yellowed one-time photos, which were photos of him on the Kunlun Snow Mountain.
The quality of the Baiyu Mountain materials from Yutian Jade Village is quite good, usually limited to the batch of jade materials mined in 1995. Those mined before 1995 are commonly known as "old materials", and those mined after 1995 are commonly known as "new materials".
The "old material" is almost the same as the mutton fat white jade seed material. Nowadays, the price of "old material" in the market is astronomical. Even if it is "new material", a bracelet will cost at least 15,000 yuan or more.
Because there are not many "new materials" coming out of Jade Village, the "old materials" have long since disappeared.
As the resources of Hotan jade seeds are increasingly depleted, the "new materials" in the Jade Village area have done their part to defend the noble status and irreplaceable king status of Hotan jade.
In this context, people who pursue huge profits came to Jade Village one after another to dream of getting rich. However, when they looked around, they saw numerous peaks and snow caps shining with dazzling light.
When faced with the true story of destruction and death, everyone was daunted.
Because it takes 13 hours to walk to the Alamas Aji Jade Mine, and 8 hours to walk to the Khanxililak Jade Mine. The two jade miners and the donkey can barely go up at the same time, and it takes 8 hours to get to Serhike Kuremu.
The jade mine and the Qikhankul jade mine require people and donkeys to walk for 13 hours.
When the donkey fails to climb up, people can only reach it by trekking deeper into Kunlun Mountain along the steep cliff for 10 hours.
Not to mention whether you can collect jade, the altitude of more than 6,000 meters above sea level, hypoxia and altitude sickness are enough for ordinary people to endure, not to mention the dangerous hungry wolves and carnivorous raptors in Kunlun Mountains that you often encounter.
Therefore, only locals who are familiar with the terrain and mountains and have experience accumulated over many years have the courage to go up the mountains to make a fortune.
People here rely on mountains to eat mountains and water to drink water. Almost every adult here has the experience of going to the mountains in winter. Therefore, in winter, after heavy snow closes the mountains, people here will not hide in the house and watch the winter, but will be more active.
.
After eating, Han Peacock noticed that there was heavy snow falling outside again. It seemed that when we got up tomorrow, it would really be snowing and the mountains would be closed.
At 6:30 in the morning, when the sky was slightly bright, Han Peacock got up. At this time, their entire expedition team gathered outside.
I heard Lao Hu talk about some of his plans. Sure enough, he revealed his harvest and sold a few pieces of white jade. At this time, everyone in the village knew about the new jade mine they had found in the mountains.
Taking advantage of the large number of people, Lao Hu and his son began to hire people from the village to go into the mountains to pick jade for him. The daily wages were as high as one thousand yuan, calculated from the time they set off.
Lao Hu and his son recruited all experts. Among them were seven or eight Maimaiti father and son brothers, as well as dozens of other veterans in the village.
The salary of one thousand yuan per day is not high, but definitely not low. Dozens of people consume tens of thousands of yuan every day. If you go to the mountains for a month, you will spend millions, not to mention food and drink.
It can also be seen from here that Lao Hu gained a lot from his trip to the mountains, which also made the people in the village extremely happy.
A new mining site cannot be excavated in one winter. Although they were hired by others to enter the mountain this time, they can go there by themselves once they know the place.
So no one would gather Lao Hu's invitation. They knew that if they were not employed, Lao Hu and his son would never tell them the exact location.
Lao Hu and his son have hired enough manpower and need supplies nearby. If their entire expedition team wants to go into the mountains again, they will stay here. If they don't want to go into the mountains, they will separate here and go back to their homes.
Back at Maimaiti's house, Han Peacock ate a bowl of vegetable rice and a local egg, then climbed up to a high place to take a bird's-eye view of the Jade Village.
At an altitude of 3,200 meters, on the middle of a cliff, Han Peacock found the best position, set up a tripod, and started photographing the jade villages in the canyon.
Looking from a high place, the small village of Kunlun, surrounded by mountains, looks so depressing.
In the deep recesses of the Kunlun Mountains in the distance, a long and sinuous silver-white water line gushes out like water from a dam leakage. After gracefully arranging an "S" shape in Jade Village, it moves towards the foot of the Kunlun Mountains.
Overlooking the entire Jade Village, all the stone houses and green trees in the village could not cover the traces of the river at all. The words "living along the river" suddenly jumped out of Han Kongque's mind.
Han Peacock took a closer look and saw that the entire village was lined up along both sides of the river bed. As the river curved, the village buildings curved accordingly. The river became the dominator of the entire village, and it was absolutely eye-catching in terms of color and visuals.
At this point, Han Kongque truly understood why this place was called "Liu Shui Village", because flowing water was the main color and the main scenery of the whole village, and it would have been useless if it didn't call it Flowing Water Village.
After going down the mountain and returning to their residence, the hostess had already prepared breakfast for them - noodles and free-range eggs.
The hostess kept inviting everyone to eat, and Han Peacock discovered that there were two unique things hanging on the hostess's neck at the same time - a piece of Hetian white jade and the sharp claw of an eagle. This may be the most distinctive feature of Jade Village.
Dressed up.
The ornaments hanging on the neck of the hostess should be a microcosm of all the women in Jade Village. In the traditional Uyghur customs in other places, there is generally no habit of wearing jade. However, hanging an eagle's claw on the white and plump chest is even more...
It seems nondescript, even confusing.
However, in Jade Village, what can be more famous than beautiful jade?
What else can have beautiful jade that can bring endless wealth and infinite happiness to the people of Kunlun Mountain?
In a sense, when women in Jade Village wear beautiful jade, they condense the Kunlun Snowland and integrate it into their own bodies. This in itself is the most primitive, direct and vivid manifestation of love for their hometown.
Deep in Kunlun, under the sky, on the top of the mountains, the eagle is the "elf of the mountain" and the "proud son of freedom" in people's hearts. (To be continued)