apropos: made in china

Not that people weren't already aware that the overwhelming majority
of tschotschkes are fabricated in China, it now turns out China
itself has become handmaiden to tschotschke heaven: a sample of
almost any street in Shanghai baffles with its omnipresent outlets of
just about anything cute, miniaturized, and useless, right there
wedged between the Starbucks and the McDonalds, across the way from
KFC. Plastic copies of jade seals? Stainless steel pig amulets?
Monkeys made of resin that looks kind of like wood? Nylon "silk"
ties? Glass pearls? Keychain USB drives? Playing-card size
cellphones? Business-card size cellphones? Pencil-size MP3 players?
AA battery-size "jogging radios"? Who jogs in Shanghai? How
deep-fried chicken and weak coffee succeed in a culture that had
millenia of fine teas and dozens of better recipes for poultry may
forever remain a marketing mystery, but it's easy to see how "made in
China" so readily turns into auto-chinoiserie: it's the unfettered
demon of kitsch that lurks in all handicraft, ready to jump forth
when it is released by mass production, churning out prefab
calligraphy and epoxy baubles like there is no yesterday.