This article is from the source 'independent' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/yiwu-christmas-village-the-chinese-city-making-the-worlds-decorations-a6773146.html

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Yiwu Christmas Village: The Chinese city making the world's decorations Yiwu Christmas Village: The Chinese city making the world's decorations
(1 day later)
Would it bother you if you found out the baubles on your Christmas tree were made in Yiwu Christmas Village? Probably not. The innocuous-sounding name conjures images of merry elfin workers, skipping about an assembly line festooned with tinsel beneath the benevolent gaze of a portly, bearded supervisor. Would it bother you if you found out the baubles on your Christmas tree were made in Yiwu Christmas Village? Probably not. The innocuous-sounding name conjures images of merry elfin workers, skipping about an assembly line festooned with tinsel beneath the benevolent gaze of a portly, bearded supervisor. 
But the Christmas Village on the outskirts of the Chinese metropolis of Yiwu is just one anonymous manufacturing district amongst countless others. According to the United Nations, Yiwu is the “largest market of petty commodity wholesales in the world”. Artificial flowers, gimcrack toys and synthetic sportswear are all produced here in mind-numbing volume, and Christmas is just one more “petty commodity” amongst the rest.But the Christmas Village on the outskirts of the Chinese metropolis of Yiwu is just one anonymous manufacturing district amongst countless others. According to the United Nations, Yiwu is the “largest market of petty commodity wholesales in the world”. Artificial flowers, gimcrack toys and synthetic sportswear are all produced here in mind-numbing volume, and Christmas is just one more “petty commodity” amongst the rest.
60 per cent of all Christmas decorations sold worldwide are made in one of the 600 factories in the Christmas Village, often hand-manufactured by workers who have only a vague understanding of what the festival is supposed to represent. None of the workers make more than a pound an hour, with average wages hovering somewhere between £200 and £300 for a month of gruelling, 12-hour shifts.60 per cent of all Christmas decorations sold worldwide are made in one of the 600 factories in the Christmas Village, often hand-manufactured by workers who have only a vague understanding of what the festival is supposed to represent. None of the workers make more than a pound an hour, with average wages hovering somewhere between £200 and £300 for a month of gruelling, 12-hour shifts.
Yiwu Christmas Village fires on all cylinders for months each year, churning out endless rivers of tinsel and galaxies of spray-painted Christmas stars. Workers start injection-moulding, stitching and spray-painting when it is still the height of summer. It might not occur to the average shopper to snap up some cut-price fairy-lights in August, but the Christmas Village is not catering to the private market.Yiwu Christmas Village fires on all cylinders for months each year, churning out endless rivers of tinsel and galaxies of spray-painted Christmas stars. Workers start injection-moulding, stitching and spray-painting when it is still the height of summer. It might not occur to the average shopper to snap up some cut-price fairy-lights in August, but the Christmas Village is not catering to the private market.
Rather, the merchandise produced here makes it way to the jaw-droppingly huge China Commodity City. The “the world’s largest wholesale market” covers 4 million square metres. 62,000 booths jostle for trade here, all an identical shape and size. It is tempting to describe this booming commercial dystopia as Yiwu’s heart of darkness, but China Commodity City gleams with artificial light and the primary-coloured sheen of global capitalism.Rather, the merchandise produced here makes it way to the jaw-droppingly huge China Commodity City. The “the world’s largest wholesale market” covers 4 million square metres. 62,000 booths jostle for trade here, all an identical shape and size. It is tempting to describe this booming commercial dystopia as Yiwu’s heart of darkness, but China Commodity City gleams with artificial light and the primary-coloured sheen of global capitalism.
Outside the hypermarket’s perimeter (which takes an hour to circumnavigate by bus), hustlers on motorbikes push counterfeit currency and bogus iPhones. But inside, there are no Abibas trainers or Appel computers in sight. China Commodity City does not sell fake, high-end products: its trade is in wholesale, low-end, legitimate crap. This is a shopping mall for shopping malls to shop at, where commercial bulk-buyers come to haggle over wholesale deals.Outside the hypermarket’s perimeter (which takes an hour to circumnavigate by bus), hustlers on motorbikes push counterfeit currency and bogus iPhones. But inside, there are no Abibas trainers or Appel computers in sight. China Commodity City does not sell fake, high-end products: its trade is in wholesale, low-end, legitimate crap. This is a shopping mall for shopping malls to shop at, where commercial bulk-buyers come to haggle over wholesale deals.
A man dressed as Santa Claus water skis alongside reindeer on the Potomac River in Alexandra, Virginia.
A volunteer dressed in a Father Christmas (Santa Claus) outfit distributes gifts to children of asylum-seekers, as they arrive at the Schoenefeld train station near Berlin on December 24, 2015, before being dispatched to various refugee centres in or near the German capital.
Leandro Wendell dos Santos, 14, wearing a Santa Claus costume, plays with kids as he walks along the alley of the Mare slums complex to distribute presents to children in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Leandro is part of a volunteer group of residents of Mare slums complex that distributes donated toys to children of the community.
Winter swimmers (L) look on as a man (R) wearing a Santa Claus hat and beard jumps into a pool carved into thick ice covering the Songhua River, to celebrate the upcoming Christmas, in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China,
In Japan Christmas is not a national holiday, however it has developed into a celebration of western culture with KFC being the most popular place to eat on December 25th. KFC's around Japan regularly see street-long lines and advanced bookings
Filipinos crowd a store that is popular in selling hams as they do last-minute shopping on Christmas eve in Manila, Philippines. The predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines boasts of having the longest Christmas celebration that starts every last quarter of the year.
A man buys Christmas sweets at a supermarket on the outskirts of Budapest, Hungary. Hungarians could outspend last year's record on seasonal treats and Christmas fondants, giving some premium brands a hard time to keep up with strong demand.
Nigerian pilgrims gather at the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank. Every year thousands of Christian pilgrims travel to the church that marks the site of the cave in which Jesus is said to have been born.
Christmas lights adorn the Usaquen park in Bogota, Colombia. The blow to Colombiaís holiday tradition is poignant given that El Nino is thought to be a reference to the baby Jesus, a name given to the climatic phenomenon long ago by South Americans who noted that it seemed to arrive around Christmas time.
Bon Bon, a 12-month-old koala, celebrating with Christmas decorations at the Rainforestation Nature Park in Cairns, Australia,
A young Thai student wearing a Santa hat poses for a photograph during a Christmas event at a school in the world heritage city of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, Thailand, 24 December 2015. The annual event is one of many held to celebrate the Christmas season in predominantly Buddhist Thailand.
Sri Lankan pedestrians walk past a decorated Christmas tree in Colombo. The leader of Sri Lanka's Catholics urged priests on not to put up Christmas trees in their churches over the festive period, saying they had no religious significance. Sri Lanka is a mainly Buddhist country but around 1.2 million of its overall population of 21 million people are Catholics.
Models wearing Santa Claus costumes wait to attend a special event to promote business in coincide with Christmas at Shinsegae department store in Seoul, South Korea. A lot of South Korean companies take advantage of the Christmas season to promote their business amid weak sales and economic slowdown.
A young Thai student wearing a Santa hat poses for a photograph during a Christmas event at a school in the world heritage city of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, Thailand, 24 December 2015. The annual event is one of many held to celebrate the Christmas season in predominantly Buddhist Thailand.
Carved radishes are displayed during the celebration of the "Night of the Radishes" at the Ocototlan de Morelos community in Oaxaca State, Mexico. The Night of the Radishes is an annual carving event two days before christmas that has its origins in the colonial period when radishes were introduced by the Spanish. Farmers began carving radishes into figures as a way to attract customers attention during the Christmas market.
A man dressed as Santa Claus walks on zebra crossing during a Christmas charity event in central Seoul, South Korea
A Greek school's principal, Yani Demircioglu, surrounded by Greek Orthodox children, plays an accordion during a Christmas celebration at the main shopping and pedestrian street of Istiklal in central Istanbul
Reuters
A boy meets Father Christmas at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur
A fire-breather performs during a street show on Christmas Eve in Baclaran, City of Paranaque
Volunteers take part in a traditional Mexican Christmas celebration known as Posada Mexicana at a migrant shelter in Saltillo, Mexico. Posada Mexicana commemorates the journey of the Holy Family from Galilee to Bethlehem
Italian artist Gaspare di Caro, right, lights up Christ the Redeemer in Rio
Reuters
A view of All Saints Cathedral, decorated ahead of Christmas celebrations, in Allahabad
Firefighter Hector Chacon, centre, dressed as Father Christmas, delivers gifts to impoverished children after descending from a 150-metre bridge, behind
A Father Christmas is painted onto a wall in a Christian neighbourhood in Karachi
3D projections designed by students of the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology are projected onto the facade of the Presidential Palace
A snowman and Christmas tree erected in Red Square
EPA
People crowd around for a view of a 3D Christmas tree erected in a shopping park
EPA
Cleaners dressed in a Father Christmas and a reindeer costume clean the windows of a shopping mall
EPA
A woman prays at the Shanghai International Chapel during a Christmas Eve Mass
Reuters
A Bangladeshi man dressed as Father Christmas entertains children during an event to mark Christmas Day in Dhaka
You can wander down hallway after hallway and see nothing but pound-shop tat. Indistinguishable LED signs wink endlessly in the corner of one hangar: another sector sells nothing but pens: a third teems with rubber duckies and cheaply-moulded plastic toys. Everything is disposable, low-end, garish. The Christmas decorations are corralled into one festive enclave, where salesmen pore over racks upon racks of Santa hats. (It’s in District 2, if you were thinking of visiting.)You can wander down hallway after hallway and see nothing but pound-shop tat. Indistinguishable LED signs wink endlessly in the corner of one hangar: another sector sells nothing but pens: a third teems with rubber duckies and cheaply-moulded plastic toys. Everything is disposable, low-end, garish. The Christmas decorations are corralled into one festive enclave, where salesmen pore over racks upon racks of Santa hats. (It’s in District 2, if you were thinking of visiting.)
Yiwu has a long history of trade: the area lacks rich, fertile soil, so locals have long been accustomed to selling manufactured wares to buy food. Once the Chinese government permitted trade to be re-established during the 1980s, the city was the first in Zhejiang province to open a market. It has never looked back.Yiwu has a long history of trade: the area lacks rich, fertile soil, so locals have long been accustomed to selling manufactured wares to buy food. Once the Chinese government permitted trade to be re-established during the 1980s, the city was the first in Zhejiang province to open a market. It has never looked back.
Just as Yiwu is the ideal home for China Commodity City, so China Commodity City is the ideal home for the vast, twinkling output of Yiwu Christmas Village. In the UK alone, we spend over £2billion a year on Christmas decorations, while our American cousins shell out somewhere north of £11billion on tinsel, fairy-lights and the like.Just as Yiwu is the ideal home for China Commodity City, so China Commodity City is the ideal home for the vast, twinkling output of Yiwu Christmas Village. In the UK alone, we spend over £2billion a year on Christmas decorations, while our American cousins shell out somewhere north of £11billion on tinsel, fairy-lights and the like.
Then, almost as the clock strikes 00:01 on Boxing Day, we in the UK sweep a billion Christmas cards into the bin, along with enough wrapping paper to stretch to the moon. For as long as we keep chucking our novelty, saxophone-playing Santa Clauses into the bin once the batteries wear out and abandoning our glittery Santa hats in the street as we career home from the work Christmas do, Yiwu’s factories will keep cranking them out. Just something to think about as you jettison your malfunctioning Christmas lights and head cursing off to Poundland for the ninth year in a row.Then, almost as the clock strikes 00:01 on Boxing Day, we in the UK sweep a billion Christmas cards into the bin, along with enough wrapping paper to stretch to the moon. For as long as we keep chucking our novelty, saxophone-playing Santa Clauses into the bin once the batteries wear out and abandoning our glittery Santa hats in the street as we career home from the work Christmas do, Yiwu’s factories will keep cranking them out. Just something to think about as you jettison your malfunctioning Christmas lights and head cursing off to Poundland for the ninth year in a row.