Cinnabar is a beautiful crimson, ranging from cinnamon to deep scarlet, colored crystal-like mineral that adds unique beauty to any pottery creation. It is mainly used by Chinese artisans in their creation of plates, jars, and other decorative pieces. The deep scarlet color is enhanced by their multiple-layers of Cinnabar paste and lacquer applied to the original sculpted piece. Cinnabar was known in China at least 3600 years ago as it was used then and now for painting on pottery and other sculpted handcrafts. Crushed Cinnabar has an appealing red color, vermilion, and has been used in art and in inks in Asia for many centuries. The best source of Cinnabar crystals is the Wan-Chan Ch'ang Mine about 30 km southeast of Tung-Ten in the Shen-Hsi District of Guizhou Province. This mine has produced nearly all the crystals on display in worldwide museums. Until Chinese minerals returned to the western market around 1980-81, a good crystallized Cinnabar was unavailable to private collectors, and only to be seen among the 'crown jewels' of old museums. This has changed gradually, over centuries, and, as of the mid to late 1990s, the availability of Cinnabar has increased which has led to more and more collectors being able to secure the beautiful craftsmanship of the Chinese artisans for their homes and as wonderfully unique gifts.

The sphere is turned on a lathe then conical holes are drilled towards the center. The maker has a set of "L" shaped tools the one with the longest upright has the shortest cutter and the one with the shortest upright has the longest cutter. Starting with the longest tool he lowers it to the narrow bottom of each hole in turn and rotates it to cut the innermost ball free. Then he gets the second tool which does not reach so far down the hole but can cut a wider arc and separates the second ball. He continues working from the innermost to outermost shell. For obvious reasons, usually only the outermost balls are elaborately carved.

The outer layer is twice as thick as the inner layers. This is because the two outer layers are fused together. The reason for this is that the outer layer with the dueling dragons is carved so deeply that if it were free moving it would be too fragile and shatter, so it has to be fused to the 2nd layer to make it strong enough to avoid breaking. The very inner ball at the center is also counted as a layer making up the total number of layers. On the larger balls the center ball can have a ball within a ball (called the "marble") thus counting as two layers. Therefore counting the center ball and the other moveable layers will make up the total layers of the ball minus two layers, those remaining two layers are the ones fused together making up the outer shell. For example - an 18 layer ball will have 16 moveable layers (including the center ball and its inside "marble") plus the 2 fused outer layers. Puzzle Balls - quite a mysterious wonder!

Guangdong, often spelt as Kwangtung, is a province on the south coast of the People's Republic of China. Sometimes called the "Canton Province" is used to mean Guangdong. The province is now one of the richest in the nation. "Guang" itself means "expanse" or "vast".

Also known as bamboo fortune sticks, these are known in China, as Chien Tung, a Chinese Oracle. These 78 Chinese fortune telling sticks have been in use in China, for hundreds of years.

How to use Chinese Fortune Sticks:

To use the fortune telling sticks, think of a question, or if you just want a general reading, just shake the bamboo container, until one stick falls out, it is that easy! Look the number up, in the booklet provided, to receive your Fortune from the sticks!

Sometimes called "Synthetic Ivory" or "Mandarin Ivory" it does not come from elephants, and therefore is perfectly legal to own and sell. It also does not harm any animals or endangered species. Ox bone is the most used substance, ground into a fine powder and mixed in with synthetic resins specially formulated to give the look, feel and weight of real ivory. The basic shapes of the finished products are then cast, hand carved to the final design, and then hand painted so each piece is a hand carved unique product. Not only does this process protect all endangered animals from harm, but results in a beautiful work of art at very affordable prices.

Jades are extremely hard stones (6.5 to 7.0). They were shaped and carved using ropes and bamboo with grains of sand. The piece was coated with sand which was rubbed back and forth with the rope or bamboo to slowly wear away the stone. A single piece could take months to produce. Today, modern diamond tipped tools, drills, and grinders make the job much quicker. The art of Jade carving has been in existence in China since 3500 BC. The most famous Jade works were produced in Suzhou, which still produces some of the finest Jade and Stone carvings in the world. Nephrite Jade, that was used by the Chinese, came from East Turkistan. Throughout history, China has gained and lost control of that region which had greatly affected the supply and quality available to the craftsmen. During the periods of low supply, smaller pieces were produced. Craftsmen were required to produce Snuff Bottles using very low quality Jade, much of which had off-color inclusions. These inclusions were frequently worked into the design of the piece. Many of these low-grade pieces are extremely valuable today.

Jade ranges in color from pure white to black and pale yellow to dark green. It has a very creamy appearance and has always been considered more valuable in Chinese society than any other substance. Jadeite is very similar to Jade in appearance, however it is a completely different substance. It is harder, more translucent and has a crystalline structure. Jadeite is found in all the colors of Jade, but also in shades of purple and blue. Most of the Jadeite used in China comes from Burma.