On China and World Domination

OK, I have to admit that right now I'm just fascinated with all things Chinese, and especially all things Beijing.. Am currently reading the above book, which is really interesting. It's about the quest of an American family to try to live for one year without buying anything made in China.. and it's hillarious! Because panic sets in every time something is broken/needed.. From the simplest of things like toys (Some are produced in Indonesia and Thailand), shoes (Italian ones) to more unusual ones like inflatable swimming pool and mousetraps (homemade, but eventually they found some made in the USA) , the author had to use so much ingenuity to get non-Chinese ones, or - more often than not- give up on the thing altogether... There were some sobering facts, like how there is no such thing as a lamp made in the USA because nobody in the USA produce the parts. They're all outsourced to China... At one point the author was searching for children safety buoys and she was sure they would not be made in China because.. well, because one can trust China for trivial things like toys, but not for life-saving products like medicine and safety buoys...

No such luck. Everything on the isle was made in China.

..Which brings me to my point on world domination. The author wondered, what if one day China decided to stop importing lamp parts to the USA? How bad would it be hit? What if China stopped importing all the other things? I'd say USA would be hit pretty bad, and herein lies China's power.. It is powerful not because other countries fear China, but they fear the absence of China.

When I went to Australia, it's eerie just how every piece of souvenir is made in China.. My brothers and I noticed them mainly because those two anti-mainland China campaigners *yup those are my bros* were making jokes about how Chinese people would come to Australia and see that everything is 'homemade'.. It got me thinking about the appropriateness of giving out to people souvenirs made in China though they're supposed to be mementos of my trip to Australia.. I'd say the tourism industry is pretty big in Australia, and it's creepily funny that China has managed to infiltrate this industry in its own capitalist way..

So, if world domination is measured in the prevalence of the 'made in ______' label, clearly China is a world dominator (or dominatrix, if so you prefer..). Am thinking of starting my own experiment of living without things made in China, but something in me says I won't last long anyway, why bother trying..

P.S Funnily enough, I checked around my room to see just how many archi stuff are made in China, and actually, we can survive pretty well without anything Chinese, since Steadler pencils are made in Germany, A3 cartridge paper made in England, white glue made in Taiwan *ok I'm taking the stand that Taiwan's not really China..*, x-acto blades made in the USA.. Dang it explains why architecture is such an expensive course to study..

Oh but wait, Moleskines are made in China!