The East China Sea is a distribution center for natural crystal raw materials in the world. Donghai County, Jiangsu Province, known as the “Capital of Crystals”, is renowned for its large reserves and pure texture.
The development and utilization of East China Sea crystals can be traced back to the 19th century, but it has been in recent decades that they have truly become well-known to people. In December 2013, Donghai was awarded the title of “Hometown of Chinese Crystal Carving Art”.Crystal stones are exquisite and transparent. Faced, angular, and beautiful, it has long been discovered by humans and is one of the earliest stones developed and utilized by humans.
As early as 500000 years ago, a large number of stone tools made of crystals were discovered in the Zhoukoudian ancient human site in Beijing.
The ancient humans living in the Daxianzhuang area of Shanzuokou Township, Donghai County also used quartz and crystal stones from the East China Sea to make many stone tools.
Through identification by the Beijing Institute of Paleoanthropology, it has been proven that they are products of the Paleolithic Age and are the first Paleolithic site in Jiangsu Province. It has advanced the history of human civilization in Jiangsu Province by 10000 to 50000 years, and archaeologists have named it the Daxianzhuang Culture.
After the liberation, the development and utilization of crystal quartz in the East China Sea became faster, and currently, Donghai County has become the center of crystal quartz in China.
The main indicator for measuring the quality of crystals is the silicon dioxide content. The higher the silicon dioxide content, the better the crystal quality.
After analysis, the silicon dioxide content in Donghai crystal is above 99.99%, and the total impurity element content is less than 22.57% ppm, so the quality of Donghai crystal is the best. The high-quality crystals abundant in the East China Sea include: white crystal, light purple crystal, tea crystal, and light yellow crystal.
With the advantages of crystal and quartz resources in the East China Sea, the crystal quartz industry chain established in Donghai County has begun to take shape, and the export of crystal quartz has become a pillar industry of Donghai County.
Since the successful application for protection of the geographical indication “Donghai Crystal” in 2007, it can not only prevent the abuse of the brand in other regions, prevent the loss of brand assets, but also prevent the damage of some substandard products produced by producers in the local area to the brand. At the same time, it will also be conducive to improving the visibility and competitiveness of Donghai Crystal and its products in domestic and international markets, transforming resource advantages into economic advantages, Increase the income of local residents and enhance the economic development capacity of the county, establishing a good image of the Donghai Crystal brand.