We begin our journey in Mandalay, a hot, dusty urban sprawl, traveling by train, bus, and elephant we head for the Jade centre of Hpakan. The road itself was so muddy that our ten-wheeled truck frequently sunk submerged up to its windows in the slimy mud, only elephants could free the stuck vehicle.

Stopping for refreshments along the way villagers comment that we are the first foreigners to visit in over thirty years and, in our honor, we are served potato chips, venison and beer and told stories of the village. For over thirty years, Burma's military government has kept the Crown Jewel of Jadedom locked away. It has taken four long days of travel, with the past three yielding a scant 35 miles, just to get a glimpse of the centre.

In places, entire mountain tops are eaten away, as the human quest for the green stone oozes deeper and deeper into the surrounding jungle. Jade is one of the toughest and most durable of gem minerals, in fact jade has been used as axe blades and tools for thousands of years. When Jade is found as it grew in the ground, mining was and is very difficult due to the hardness of the stone. Originally mining was performed using hammers, as the jade was just as hard as the hammers miners looked for an easier way. Eventually miners started lighting fires along the rock face to heat up the jade until it reached the correct temperature when it was doused with water to shock and crack the precious stone. Miners have since graduated to using diamond impregnated saws to gradually separate the stone, this method however is still too slow and now explosives are sometimes used.

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An easier way to hunt for jade is to look along rivers that have eroded the jade from the Earth and carried the stone as boulders downstream where they wait to be picked up by a collector with an astute eye. For over 200 years, man has scoured the banks of the Uru river in search of jade, giving the area the look of one large ant hill. Centuries of labor have piled the banks high. During seasons when the river is high, men dive for jade. Air is supplied via a crude air pump, something akin to a triple bicycle hand pump. While those on land furiously work the pump, the diver hops into the water and searches for jade with the plastic hose between his teeth, all the while hoping and praying those up above don't forget just who's down there. 

Is the green stone, as the Chinese assert, a bridge to heaven? Although we had traced the green line to its terminus, all the way to its very apex, we are still unable to provide an answer. But one thing is certain: as long as the demand for jade persists, man will continue to risk all in following the green line. And that line will continue to lead straight to Hpakan.