Could You Live Without China?

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What about the more expensive imports?
People also have continued to associate merchandise from China with shoddy, low-cost goods. But a lot of high-end products are also made in China. When you go into fancy kitchen shops, for example, people think that the stuff is European because it might have a European name or the company might be based in Europe. But that's not always true. With imports from China, there's a huge array of goods and a huge array of quality.

Were your kids disappointed with their non-Chinese toys?
We wanted them to have fun at Christmas, but to them that involves colorful plastic toys, the majority of which come from China. Toys made in the U.S. or in Europe are well-crafted and tasteful but are [better suited] for grown-ups. I bought this beautifully painted German doll that was 3-inches tall and cost $20 instead of a [cheaper] Barbie. But with my young kids, even when we spent the money, it wasn't a good alternative. They wanted monster trucks and normal dolls. We did find some ordinary toys like Legos, which makes some of their products in Europe. I think we brought those for every single birthday party we went to that year. Our son complained, "Too many Legos." These days, a kid is used to flashing lights and remote controls.

I'm sure he was ready for the year to be over.
When he went shopping and he wanted something, I'd tell him to look at the label. So China became this magical place that makes all these wonderful toys. It had this mythic status in his mind, but he's glad to have that year behind him.

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