I’ve noticed a number of men going around wearing bracelets of large colored beads that seem to be made out of plastic – the kind of thing I would expect to see an 8-year-old girl wearing. Not just misc. weirdos, but otherwise normal-seeming middle-aged men. Has anybody else noticed this? Is there some reason for it?
Seen heaps of it, religion buddha etc, some look pretty cool. Wore mine back to Aus last year and everybody wanted it.
it’s a buddhist rosary in a why or an other…
I don’t think most of these are prayer beads (aka worry beads). Buddhist prayer beads are similar to rosaries because they are long strings of beads that droop as you pray.
What people wear are ‘crystals’ and they are not cheap. I say this because I have bought some (at my friends’ and girlfriend’s behest). I agree, some look like plastic – like the mauve colored beads or the transparent ones. Also, they can look cheap becuase they may be strung together this pretty cheap elastic string.
But when you go for the ones with the cool knot locks, the prices rise even faster.
Undoubtedly, some people wear these for decoration (like me!). I guess it’s like wearing an expensive cross around your neck, whether you actually believe in it religiously or not.
But the crystals are prescriptive – you wear them, or touch them (if you buy the even more expensive non-bracelet versions that are shaped as obelisks and spheres) becuase they affect your ‘energy,’ ‘auras’ and all that new-age sounding stuff.
I can’t keep track how often and for how long I’m supposed to soak them in saline solution – to wash off the negative energies they gather. So I only wear them for kicks. And if I can spend enough time out in the sun to regain my tan, I think can pretend to be not a mere Chinese-looking geek, but a full-blown Taiwanese islander 
If you are interested in learning more, you can go to blancocrystal.com/intro_english.shtml
Blanco has a few shops around the island. Like other Crystal shops here, they also offer the Aura photos (http://www.blancocrystal.com/aurafoto_english.shtml). If you have guests from abroad who don’t know about this stuff, taking them to a place like Blanco is a nice little field trip in the city
Some other books:
