Jade is a kind of beautiful stone. These words were remarked in Shuowen Jiezi (Origin of Chinese Characters), written by Xu Shen, a renowned lexicographer of the Han Dynasty. In ancient codes and records, there are many recordation of jade coming from Kunlun Mountain. Kunlun jade comes from the region of Qinghai. It is mainly distributed in the plateau and hilly areas, such as Nachi Tai, Da-Zhong-Xiao Zaohuo along the southwest of Golmud and over one hundred kilometers along the Qinghai Tibet highway.
Kunlun jade is formed in the contact belt between dolomitic marble and intermediate-acid intrusive rocks. It is famed for its delicate texture, high transparency, high density and smooth and bright appearance after polished. The 29th Summer Olympic Games in Beijing identified Kunlun jade as medals jade.
The implementation of the protection of geographical indication products has played an important role in regulating the order of Kunlun jade market, protecting the sustainable development of the characteristic resources industry and raising Kunlun jade's wider profile at home and abroad.
(Courtesy of the Protection and Coordination Department of SIPO)
（Editor Gao Sihan）
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