By Josh Chin (’07), Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
September 21, 2006

YIWU, CHINA – Two tiny Buddhist nuns drag an oversized plastic bag through a massive indoor market. Shoppers part as the pair shuffle down a corridor lined with a riotous parade of unnecessary items: knockoff Barbie dolls, NBA bobbleheads, figurines of scantily clad cartoon girls. What did they buy? “Souvenirs,” they say impatiently – and disappear into the climate-controlled labyrinth.

China International Trade City is the largest wholesale “small goods” market on the planet, and the consensus starting point for anyone hoping to take advantage of the famed “China price” on display at the market’s 19,000 booths. Once famous for being the place where half the world’s socks are made, Yiwu now bears a new distinction: China’s latest national tourist attraction.

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