Pearl for elderly or youngsters?

In Nanjing, the tour guide brought us to this pearl factory. You know, when I heard that I'm going to the pearl factory, I was expecting to see the oysters that they breed to make pearls. BUT disappointedly, it's winter. The oysters are hibernating. I never knew oysters hibernate.

Did you know that one oyster can make many pearls?!

And I thought one oyster only can make one pearl. Haha! Too much Disney Channel and Nickelodean for me. =P

So, after they sit us down and gave us tea, they show us how to remove the pearl from the oysters. It's pretty simple. Get a knife and slice through the separation between the two shells.

Voila! Opened. Although a lot of pearls are formed, some are so distorted that they don't sell them to tourists.

Those distorted pearls are crush and made into pearl cream. I tried it and hmm...not much different from the standard facial creams.

While those better looking pearls are made into necklace or bracelets to be sold to tourists. Some are even sold as a pearl itself. If they look expensive enough. ;P

When making into a pendant, they use this machine to drill a hole through the pearl.

Then they attach a hooked of your choice into the hole using glue. Pretty cheap if you ask me. Diamond hook and pearl attached with glue. HAHA!!

Nevertheless, the end product still look good. It's not my pendant. I didn't get anything from here. Pearls just make me look older. So, no pearl for me!

It's a rather short trip to the Pearl Factory considering there's really nothing much to see.