In May 2010, Mr. Zhang and his friends ventured to the Alxa Gobi Desert in search of stones. As they crossed the desert, a sudden sandstorm darkened and everything disappeared into the dust. They closed their doors and windows and waited for the sandstorm to leave.
In the evening, some silhouettes can be seen. Mr. Zhang returned to the car with a few rocks and told his friend that he had just seen something that looked like a preserved egg in the sand dune. Wondering, how could there be preserved eggs in the Gobi Desert? So, he decided to pick them up and find out. There are three pieces in total, two of which are exactly the same as preserved eggs, and the other is similar to water tofu. The two preserved egg stones, which were supposed to be one, were probably split in half in the wind and sun.
Later, they picked up some other small stones, but the most striking ones were the two preserved egg stones. After the news spread, people came to his shop in the hope of buying these unique preserved egg tofu stones. However, all requests were politely denied by him.
Seven years later, in 2017, China Guardian launched a special session of "Literati Man's Life: Heaven and Earth Have Great Beauty Without Words" at the Spring Auction. At the auction, the natural agate "preserved egg tofu" was estimated at 300,000 to 500,000 yuan. In the end, this unique stone was sold for a staggering 1.207 million yuan, several times more than the estimate, which is amazing.
This natural Gobi agate stone, known as "preserved egg tofu", was formed 100 million years ago, and after a long period of erosion and influence, this agate stone presents colorful and different forms of ornamental stones. Among them, the white stone like tofu is a hard and rare egg white agate, and the two stones in the shape of a "preserved egg" are like half a pickled egg, with vivid color and texture. You can even see the gradual transformation of the eggs from yellow to green and from green to black during the "pickling" process, as if it is very similar to the real thing, which is breathtaking.
This story contains the awe of nature's miraculous creation, and also shows people's unique vision for rare stones and the pursuit of beauty. Although the transaction price of this "preserved egg tofu" stone is staggering, it also makes people full of awe and curiosity about the wonders of nature. Perhaps, the ordinary places around us also contain amazing treasures, waiting for those who are interested to discover.