Over the years, the lapis lazuli market has stabilized, and he can earn millions in one year. He thought about buying a house in Guangzhou, but the housing price is too high, he thinks it is unnecessary, "renting a house is very good, I like this city."
Ahmad Khan (hereinafter referred to as Ahmad) has come to China from Afghanistan for ten years and specializes in selling Afghan traditional lapis lazuli jewelry.
He first set up a street stall outside the clothing wholesale market in Guangzhou and made his first pot of gold. Later, he rented a stall in the jewelry market and officially established a foothold in Guangzhou.
Because of the special status of the Afghan, he always gets special "care" in China. Few people take the initiative to bargain with him, and some people will buy more goods. Many people will say "Come on" to him after paying, which makes him feel warm in a foreign country.
As the lapis lazuli business grew bigger and bigger, not only he was able to make millions a year, but he also supported eight handicraft workshops in his hometown, and hundreds of workers were given job opportunities.
During the war, he doubled the wages of the workers in the caves in his hometown. "There will be peace one day, and then money will be used."
Guangzhou Gold Rush
Ten years ago, Ahmed, in his early twenties, detoured from Afghanistan to Berlin and came to Guangzhou. Previously, seniors who had been in China for many years told him that Guangzhou is a place for gold rushing.
When he arrived in Guangzhou, he felt, "This is a place like New York. There are not only yellow people, white people and dark-skinned people, but also a lot of people. Even the language barrier is not a problem. Many people will say English". At first he planned to do the clothing business like a friend, reselling Chinese-made clothing to Central Asia and North Africa, but after a few trips to the 13th line, he retreated, "There are too many styles of clothing, here is a stall. Goods, there are more goods than a small shopping mall in Afghanistan. It’s horrible. I don’t understand anything and I can’t learn.”
Back at the rental house in Liwan, Ahmed talked to his relatives in his hometown. An elder inadvertently complained that the local lapis lazuli was greatly reduced by foreign buyers. Whether it was mining or processing, it made money. No money.
Ahmed had an idea and decided to start a lapis lazuli business.
His hometown, Badakhshan Province in northeastern Afghanistan, was originally the main producer of lapis lazuli in the world, and many people there have been mining and selling lapis lazuli for a living. He is very familiar with lapis lazuli. When he was a child, he and his fathers went to the mining area several times. “Early in the morning, he took a special pickup truck to go to the mountains. The mountain roads are very dangerous. There are always stones rolling down from both sides. Ask him whether the road ahead is safe. Our car will have to go on the road for a day. When it gets dark, we can just reach the village at the foot of the mine, where there are many mines."
Ahmed recalled that someone excavated stones in the mine, and then several people carried them out with burdens and handed them to workers outside the cave who were responsible for sorting to separate the different grades of lapis lazuli. The locals all hope to mine top-grade lapis lazuli, “one kilogram of top-grade stone can take care of your life for ten years”, but sometimes, a mine can’t mine one kilogram of top-grade lapis lazuli for several months.
He saw that the foothills of the nearby mountains were piled up with large stones of normal color. Because the mountain roads of Badakhshan Mountain are too difficult to walk, and in many places even donkeys can’t go up, they can only rely on the villagers to carry the stones down the mountain. Therefore, the stones are not very good in color, and the locals would rather throw them aside, “because of the flowers. With great effort, the purchasers outside will not give you a good price, which is not cost-effective."
However, these finenesses are not considered top lapis lazuli, and can be processed into jewelry.
He communicated this idea with his family, and patted his chest to ensure that as long as the processing plant in Afghanistan can polish the rough stone into small beads, he can transport it to Guangzhou and process it into jewelry for high prices. I will sell as much as I come." But in fact, Ahmed didn't even have a stall at that time. "Just bragging, I don't know if I can sell it."
Ancient lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli is a single-mineral silicate jade, generally with navy blue, purple blue, and dark blue. Because it contains fine-grained pyrite, golden stars appear on the blue base, which is very beautiful. Because lapis lazuli is very pure in blue, it is very rare in nature, so it was mined very early and widely used in various jewelry, decorations and paintings.
Lapis Lazuli is produced in very few places. It is currently known to be produced in northeastern Afghanistan, Lake Baikal in Russia, Mount Vesuvius, Myanmar, Canada and the United States.
The Badak Mountain in Badakhshan Province in northeastern Afghanistan is the earliest production area in the world, with a mining history of more than 6000 years.
It is generally believed that the lapis lazuli used in major ancient civilizations all over the world came from Afghanistan. During the Persian period in history, this was a gem that only nobles could use. In ancient Egypt, people like blue very much. The lapis lazuli blue is pure and deep. It is considered the most advanced. It often appears on the mummified coffins and decorations of pharaohs and priests. The blue on the famous golden mask of Tutankhamun is just Used lapis lazuli. Later introduced to Europe, the blue of lapis lazuli has always been the color of nobility because it is extremely pure. China has not yet discovered lapis lazuli deposits. It was first introduced to China through the ancient Silk Road. During the Qing Dynasty in my country, the lapis lazuli was used as the top wear on the court clothes of Grade 4 officials.
Such a good thing was rarely seen in the jewelry market in Guangzhou at that time.
According to the introduction, Ahmed spent more than a month to go to various jewellery distribution markets in Guangzhou, Langang, Liwan Square, Hualin International, these famous jewellery cities, he went to No less than ten times, "Many jadeites are made. There are a few lapis lazuli, and some of them are not real and may be dyed."
He met a fellow from the capital of Kabul. He is already a second-generation business in China. His main energy is to do import and export trade. Jewelry stalls are just a sideline. The fellow told him that as long as the domestic raw material processing and transportation problems can be solved, and the cost is kept under control, Chinese consumers' demand for lapis lazuli jewelry "can make you a lot of money."
"He earns 500,000 yuan a year from a stall, and the raw materials are not his own. He buys goods from merchants in Kabul and can still make so much."
Ahmed went back to Afghanistan. With the help of his father, he reached an agreement with a simple handicraft workshop. "It is really simple, but for the past 500 years, lapis lazuli processing has always been this kind of handicraft workshop. As a unit, a family of young and old sat together polishing, piercing, hand polishing, and beading. Except for the cutting and polishing of rough stones, almost no mechanical equipment is needed. It is really all manual."
The most difficult part is transportation. Because the country is not peaceful, if you want to ship a batch of goods without incident, you need a courageous freight driver.
"I found a friend who was once a local armed force and could get a pass. He hired two bodyguards to collateralize goods for the merchants. In addition to the expenses of these people, I said, I will give you 100% of the total value of each shipment. Ten percent, he agreed."
Stand on
When the first batch of lapis lazuli necklaces arrived in Guangzhou, they were actually only the size of a suitcase, but this was the entire wealth of Ahmed. He didn't have extra money to rent stalls, and the rent of hundreds of thousands of stalls made him daunted. A few friends from Central Asia suggested that they could set up a street stall, which was Ahmed's only choice.
Where can I set up a street stall? Ahmed chose the clothing wholesale market. At first, he only thought that there was a large flow of people there, but soon he discovered that in addition to the large flow of people, some people in the clothing business might also be in the accessories business at the same time. "Later, many Taobao businesses, except from clothing stalls. Take clothes, and after you see my goods, I will also bring them in to enrich the online store's categories. Jewelry and clothing can be sold together."
His street stall business is getting better and better, and he is in the clothing city that Guangzhou can call its name. He has been to Baima, Tianma, Shisanxing, Zhanxi, Xindadi, and Shahe. He likes to go to Zhanxi the most. For a long time, the Zhanxi wholesale market was full of counterfeit goods. Ahmed found that merchants who went to Zhanxi to buy goods were more flexible in mind and more able to tell stories. He once met a businessman in Fujian and suggested that he could open a Taobao shop and tell the story of lapis lazuli mining in Afghanistan. Online customers all eat this set.
Two years later, Ahmed rented a stall in Guangzhou Langang Jewelry City, "founded."
At this time, he already had several stable wholesale customers, and his business was on the right track. The number of processing workshops in his hometown reached eight. Hundreds of workers worked for him, and he became a well-known successful businessman in his hometown. Even in the age of war, his orders have never been interrupted. "They hid in the cave to polish the beads. I doubled their wages. Although they have nowhere to spend money, peace will always come and there will be a lot of money to spend at that time."
This is why he is respected in his hometown. Every year, young people from his hometown come to him and follow in his footsteps to Guangzhou to pan for gold.
Five or six years ago, lapis lazuli suddenly became popular in the jade market, and a high-quality bracelet can be fried to 70, 80,000. At this time, some bad voices slowly emerged. Some people said that the lapis lazuli sold by these people were fake, and they were all cheap goods imported from Yiwu. Ahmed has never been to Yiwu, but he heard about it. In order to prove his innocence, he went to Yiwu specially and bought a batch of jewelry that resembled lapis lazuli at a low price. He took pictures and compared them. I believed him, but some people continued to accuse him.
"Selling gems will encounter this situation. I am an Afghan. There is no need to smash the sign of my country. They believe it or not."
Friendly Chinese
Nowadays, Ahmed generally has three sales channels. In addition to the physical stalls in Guangzhou Langang Jewelry City, he also opened a Taobao store. At the same time, if he has the opportunity, he will also participate in jewelry exhibitions held around the world. The most impressive thing is the exhibitions that I participated in all over China.
In the early years, his booth was in front of him, most of the time, it was the most lively place, "Afghan people seem to be hot in China and don't pay attention." At each exhibition, Ahmed had to spend a lot of time to cope with the customer's request for a group photo. "They heard that I was an Afghan, and they would suddenly get excited and call a friend to take a photo."
"It's very interesting, they are very friendly, everyone here knows my country, and I will be very happy."
Since the war in Afghanistan, Ahmed has felt that his treatment has suddenly changed. One year, at the Beijing Jewelry Fair, a group of middle-aged women gathered around his booth to select lapis lazuli bracelets, and chatted while picking them. Some people said they were bargaining with the boss, and some people shook their heads and said that they are fighting in the country. , Doing business is not easy, don't bargain with people. "They thought I didn't understand Chinese," Ahmed said. When this group of customers bought it, they did not counter-offer with him. Another time at an exhibition in Shanghai, a man originally bought only five necklaces. After knowing that he was an Afghan, he added five more necklaces. Before leaving, he said to him seriously, "Come on Afghanistan".
"Come on" is a word he often heard during that time, and later he will reply "China, come on", "This is a wonderful conversation, full of friendliness," he said.
However, as an Afghan, he will also encounter some ridicules.
Some small exhibitions in inland provinces will also send him invitations. He has been to the "International Jewelry Exhibition" in small cities like Gansu and Ningxia. After that, "except for some people at the opening, the next day The mouth is empty". Later, he heard from a friend who was “savvy with national conditions” that the jewelry exhibitions in many small places in China, similar to small cities at the county level, hold an exhibition. If foreign businessmen like him can be invited to participate, the title of the exhibition will be in front of the title. , You can put the word "international" on it. Obviously, a special country like Afghanistan is "more popular."
After that, he rarely participated in such exhibitions.
Over the years, the lapis lazuli market has stabilized, and he can earn millions in one year. He thought about buying a house in Guangzhou, but the housing price is too high, he thinks it is unnecessary, "renting a house is very good, I like this city."
