coals to newcastle
I feel lucky to work with people from many different backgrounds and origins than my own. For instance I regularly get to have lunch with a man who came here from China. I enjoy hearing his stories of growing up in China and learning about “real” Chinese food at the mom and pop restaurants he drags me to. I try to answer his curiosity about American politics and religion and make suggestions for landscaping his garden.
Next month he is taking his wife and daughter back to China to visit relatives. They like to take gifts back with them when they go. What to take though? Every time they see something that looks nice they turn it over and see a “made in China” tag. Surely there is something made here that your countrymen don’t have, I said. Yes, he said, guns, airplanes. Last time he took liquor.
My only suggestions have been hand-made crafts. What would you take to China?
June 20th, 2006 @ 9:12 pm
I’d go to the Texas souvenir shop on Congress Avenue and buy a scorpion-under-glass paperweight. Everybody needs one of these! And maybe salsa and chips from El Fenix.
My husband and I traveled to Beijing in April 2005. Naturally we wanted to bring back souvenirs from China, but we ran into a similar problem. Everything we found that looked Chinese was something we knew we could find in the dollar bin at Target. And because so many things are counterfeited over there, we never knew what was real and what wasn’t.
We eventually settled on carved-soapstone ink stamps for the kids—carved with their zodiac signs and their names in Chinese—and silk (we hope) scarves for other relatives. Of course, the best souvenirs for ourselves were the photographs of all the fabulous sights in Beijing and at the Great Wall.
June 21st, 2006 @ 2:46 am
Travelled extensively in Asia and Africa throughout 1980s and 1990s–had same problem of locating gifts, major problem since these were big gift-giving countries. To Africa: for men the latest in wet Gillette razors & blades, especially those packs where you get both a razor and a few blades, but adding another package of 10 blades. For women, nice pack of cosmetics for African complexions. Both gifts were always extremely well received, and would probably work for almost any developing country (with proper adjustments of cosmetics for local skin complexions.) For more affluent countries, the U.S. Government Printing Office publishes marvellous books at quite low prices–coffee table type books on subjects such as Grand Canyon and other national parks, the White House and other national architecture, flora and fauna, etc. Also NASA Lewis Research Center is near us, so I also picked up loads of post cards and small booklets on space exploration, signed photos of U.S. cosmonauts, etc. You can also take locally made handicrafts–handicrafts from the mountains of West Virginia, etc., although these can get a little expensive if you buy them from gift stores with upscale pretensions! All these gifts worked for me, and for a 1-2 month overseas consulting trek, I would stock up about $500 to $1,000 worth of such items before departing, and use the same suitcase to bring back gifts for the family–hand carvings from Africa, hand made jewelry from India, etc., also well received back in home territory.
June 21st, 2006 @ 12:23 pm
When I was a kid, my aunt in Alberquerque sent us a Christmas package that had gummy jalapeno candies. I was the only one that ate them, and they were FANTASTIC.
I’ve never seen them anywhere.
So if you know of somewhere to get some let me know, eh?
June 21st, 2006 @ 6:47 pm
Those are all good ideas. I passed them along. He seemed to especially like the idea of books.
Jenn: Never had jalapeno candy although we sometimes buy jalapeno jelly. Even now we have some jalapeno/strawberry jam that is sure good. You can buy just about anything jalapeno down here. I recently had some jalapeno soup (at an Italian restaurant!).
June 21st, 2006 @ 8:54 pm
Well, I just can’t help myself.
“What would you take to China?”
A slow boat?
How about a real John B. Stetson, or some spurs? Mounted longhorn horns?
June 22nd, 2006 @ 4:49 pm
A Harley?