So I may have bought another set of earrings… these ones match my genuine emerald ring that I bought in Thailand in 2997. But these are fake.

To be honest, today wasn’t the most exciting day I’ve had travelling, but if you’re following along, you’ll know I’ve had a very good run.

Can’t complain!

1,500 degrees and lots of pressure to grow a diamond. They start with graphite, then squeeze it under incredible heat to produce this pretty diamond dust.

We were told not to touch it, but of course a couple of people put their fingers in. Have I mentioned that this is the stupidest group I’ve ever travelled with? Don’t get me wrong… there are a lot of great people in the group. But there are a fair few people who don’t know their arses from their elbows.
Anyway, back to my notes.

It’s finished in 40 minutes, then a further 7 days needed till the end.

Less than 10 carats are for jewellery, more than this is military and industrial.

The first machine selects for shape. It works on vibration.

Magnetic separator separates the good quality on the left from the bad quality or industrial quality on the right.

The workshop runs 24 hours a day 3X8 hour shifts. We were taken to the shop, but I’ve already told you what happened there.

Then it was off to a museum.

3,600 years ago, this guy founded the second dynasty in China.
Also, see the guy standing with his wife in the foreground? It turns out we went to the same primary school, though he was about 10 years ahead of me. Small world,

Shang Dynasty, which was part of the New Stone Age.

Before this, it was a matriarchal society. Then, they decided to move away from being sensible.

Bronze drinking vessel.

Porcelain bowl. You can see how they’ve put it together after it was smashed. The passage of time is hard on crockery.

Primarily fish was used in their diet because as Dominic said, if they came across animals, the animals would eat them, so fish were safe to catch and easy to eat.

A pig in a sacrificial pit. One year later, you sacrifice a pig for him. Then every 3 years.

They had a few dioramas which weren’t bad, but I have to say that I could have done with less museum.

Then it was off to the train station for the third and last time to catch a bullet train.

Blogless Sandy and I agree that travelling on a fast train is really the way to go. Lots of leg room, swift, quiet and very civilised.

We have 3 more cities before we come home. This tour covers a lot of ground in a very short time.

So yes, not the most riveting day, but tomorrow sounds like it should be good. According to Summer, our new guide, we’ll be walking in the footsteps of Marco Polo.

Dad Joke of the Day: