Booth babes
May 18, 2018 7:57 AM Subscribe
Commodity City. A short documentary on the The Yiwu Market in China, the world's largest wholesale market (slVimeo).
The girl pulls the stool out from under her brother and the parents are "OMG are you okay?! Don't be so mean!" and the dinosaur just keeps doot-doot-doot walking along.
posted by clawsoon at 8:47 AM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by clawsoon at 8:47 AM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
My favorite was the KFC kids.
posted by stinkfoot at 9:01 AM on May 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by stinkfoot at 9:01 AM on May 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
What strikes me is how totally dwarfed by their goods all the human beings are.
posted by The Baffled King at 9:13 AM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by The Baffled King at 9:13 AM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
And, lo, capitalism came to the brave communist state, and it brought stuff, endless aisles of stuff, colorful stuff, useful stuff, useless stuff, and the people sat, waiting, waiting, for someone to take the stuff away.
posted by njohnson23 at 9:16 AM on May 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 9:16 AM on May 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
What got me (apart from the girl and the stool) was how specific these stores were. Like the one that just sold tinsel, or the one that just sold various santa claus figures.
posted by stillnocturnal at 9:25 AM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by stillnocturnal at 9:25 AM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Well, you can't actually take anything away from their little shops. Instead, you put in an order for a couple hundred units and have the factory/warehouse/whatever deliver those boxes to some place it can be shipped to your home country/city.
Also interesting: in other cities in China, there are "Little Yiwus", mini versions of the large market with the same purpose.
As for the specificity of the stores, I remember walking through an entire building floor (there are many buildings) that was all Christmas. SO MUCH CHRISTMAS.
posted by mikhuang at 10:27 AM on May 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Also interesting: in other cities in China, there are "Little Yiwus", mini versions of the large market with the same purpose.
As for the specificity of the stores, I remember walking through an entire building floor (there are many buildings) that was all Christmas. SO MUCH CHRISTMAS.
posted by mikhuang at 10:27 AM on May 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
And, lo, capitalism came to the brave communist state, and it brought stuff, endless aisles of stuff, colorful stuff, useful stuff, useless stuff, and the people sat, waiting, waiting, for someone to take the stuff away.
It's really just too much stuff. SO MUCH STUFF.
posted by dis_integration at 1:54 PM on May 18, 2018
It's really just too much stuff. SO MUCH STUFF.
posted by dis_integration at 1:54 PM on May 18, 2018
dis_integration: It's really just too much stuff. SO MUCH STUFF.
One thing I keep running into when I read about first encounters between Western civilization and the rest of the world (besides, y'know, genocide and slavery) is, "How can we convince them to want stuff instead of free time? Because if we can convince them to want stuff, then they'll work on our plantations of their own free will and be in our power and become upstanding hardworking Christians."
And I guess that's how you conquer the world with bourgeois puritan imperialism?
posted by clawsoon at 3:38 PM on May 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
One thing I keep running into when I read about first encounters between Western civilization and the rest of the world (besides, y'know, genocide and slavery) is, "How can we convince them to want stuff instead of free time? Because if we can convince them to want stuff, then they'll work on our plantations of their own free will and be in our power and become upstanding hardworking Christians."
And I guess that's how you conquer the world with bourgeois puritan imperialism?
posted by clawsoon at 3:38 PM on May 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
59,000,000 sq ft!?
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 4:09 PM on May 18, 2018
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 4:09 PM on May 18, 2018
I liked how the film started out with just shots of the stuff dwarfing the humans, but ended up focusing on the humans and letting their personalities shine through. Lots of striking scenes.
posted by shalom at 7:02 PM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by shalom at 7:02 PM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't know what to say, other than fascinating. I'd love to visit.
One thing stood out: the temperature must be subfreezing in some locations and tropic in others, based on what people wearing eg Tshirts or Parkas. Or maybe it was filmed over a long period of time? Wish I knew.
posted by james33 at 5:36 AM on May 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
One thing stood out: the temperature must be subfreezing in some locations and tropic in others, based on what people wearing eg Tshirts or Parkas. Or maybe it was filmed over a long period of time? Wish I knew.
posted by james33 at 5:36 AM on May 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
It's really just too much stuff. SO MUCH STUFF.
I know, isn't it wonderful? Compared to, you know, the twentieth century. If they don't like the aesthetics they can fix it later, but I know which problem I'd rather have.
posted by officer_fred at 5:41 PM on May 19, 2018
I know, isn't it wonderful? Compared to, you know, the twentieth century. If they don't like the aesthetics they can fix it later, but I know which problem I'd rather have.
posted by officer_fred at 5:41 PM on May 19, 2018
One thing I really appreciate about China (I'm currently here for work) is that the vendors are allowed to look at their phones, or eat, or just zone out. Nobody cares about that. In North America, on top of having to shill for shit you don't care about, you're also expected to plaster a fake smile on your face and pretend to be incredibly stoked and grateful for the opportunity to be selling clocks. That was always the most humiliating and draining part of working retail for me and I think it would have been a lot more tolerable otherwise. Like, there's no need to pretend here - you need tinsel, I've got tinsel, let's work this out so I can go back to watching my soaps.
posted by xiasanlan at 6:08 PM on May 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by xiasanlan at 6:08 PM on May 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
« Older The wedding that once upon a time, might never... | “From hardware to software, controllers to culture... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Artw at 8:38 AM on May 18, 2018 [3 favorites]