According to many historical records, Baoshan is the "hometown of gold and silver". As early as 1 century, small monarchs outside Yongchang, such as Dun Renyi, began to send envoys to present treasures, sorrows and delicacies to the Eastern Han Dynasty through Yongchang Road. Since then, Baoshan, especially Tengchong under its jurisdiction, with its unique geographical and transportation advantages, has become the earliest, largest and longest-lasting jade distribution center in China history and won the reputation of "Jade City".

Although there is no jade in Tengchong today, there is a saying of "jade leap" in history. Actually, it's not a lie, because both inside and outside the "Great Jinsha River" (Irrawaddy River), which is still famous for its rich jade, three declarations and six comforts are under the orders of North Korea, but the more it is, the more it is a dove, a savage, a fierce arch and a fierce ploughing, which is "completely impossible" after the Ming Dynasty. Due to repeated changes in the national territory, these major jade producing areas have left Xinjiang, but Baoshan and Tengchong are the world. Between Baoshan, Tengchong and Gu Mo, a "Jade Road" and a "Gem Road" have been formed: "Inside and outside the Great Jinsha River, the Wanbao scale has advanced from Tengyue, so the Babao Street in Zhoucheng is ancient. In the Ming Dynasty, court officials, eunuchs and businessmen gathered in Baoshan and Tengchong to buy and even demand jewelry and jade. Yang Sheng 'an once recited: "Baojing Road in the south of Yongchang City, the bowl of water in front of Qiliting was paved with fairy land shrinkage method, and Baojing moved to Chang 'an Street. Zhang Han said: "The precious stones were very heavy at Chenghua, and they were secretly bought by private people for official use. Zhang Zhichun's Biography of Nanyuan records that "Gengzi Chenghua, eunuch Wang Ju failed to get the gem, so he (Meng Mi) was relieved of the crime of rebelling against Mubang, so please levy it"-when the treasure was not found, add swords and soldiers, and the "weight" of "gem" can be seen. In the long-lasting "jade worship", Tengchong not only appeared some priceless jade, such as "Luo Qiyu", "Duan Jiayu Jade" and "Inch Jade", but also appeared many "Jade Kings" who made their fortune by picking jade or bazaaring jade, and the distribution of jade was amazing-according to the statistics of the Customs of the Republic of China, 65,438+.

Large-scale jade trade makes jade carving, a special handicraft, emerge as the times require and develop continuously. By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, there were more than 100 jade workshops and more than 3,000 jade carving craftsmen in Tengchong alone. "Most of the utensils sold in Yunnan provinces were sent to eastern Guangdong, Shanghai, Fujian, Zhejiang and Kyoto" ("Tengyue Local Records" by Inch Kaitai), which was a prosperous scene. Because artisans in past dynasties paid more attention to the quality of jade, a large number of inferior materials and scraps left over from trade disdained processing. Over time, some people played jokes on paving roads and building walls with jade, so that when people began to build houses, they often dug up jade in a big pit. Until 1997, when the municipal department was renovating a certain block, many people waved pickaxes and waved hoes and rushed to the construction site to find jade. Many people got what they wanted.

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Tengchong once fell into the hands of the Japanese invaders, and the jade market declined. After the war, the trade route was interrupted for decades, and the jade distribution center gradually moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand, and the jade trade and processing in the border areas were also depressed. It was not until after the reform and opening-up that Tengchong's jadeite industry recovered its vitality with the reopening of the country and the reopening of the Tengmi Highway, and its business scale, processing technology and artistic level also made great progress. 1994, the people's governments of Xia Meng and Tengchong County also successfully held the Tengchong International Jade Trade Festival, which made the sigh of predecessors "recalling the bustling Bai Bao Street and bringing money here" once again become a reality for guests at home and abroad, and "emerald city" and its dazzling jewels also became a charming scenery admired by tourists from all directions. (Baoshan)