The one ond only sight I visited in Kunming (thanks to Sheryl) is this:
This is exactly like any Wal-mart in the US, and a lot of people (Chinese people of coure) were shopping here. Many will see this as a symbol of globalization. Some Americans might see the irony in all the Wal-mart and China-bashing in the States these days, when the Chinese are also increasingly buying from Wal-mart, and are having their own
union problems with Wal-mart.
What strikes me though, is as far as shopping habits go, how potentially similar the two countries, China and the States are. I first read about Wal-mart's global attempts
here. Many such attempts have failed elsewhere in the world, but they're expanding in China. Wal-mart
expanded quickly since it first opened stores in China in 1996, now there are 86 stores in its 46 cities according to its corporate website, and will increase its presence even more rapidly this year with its
new acquisitions. China and the States: - are both large countries with lots of space, - people are spread out (increasingly true in China with all the newly planned urban areas in China) and therefore will buy in bulk when they take time to go to the stores. - with the rise of middle class, people here drive. Anyway, to conclude, let me bring you a few more seconds of Wal-mart, China:
This is exactly like any Wal-mart in the US, and a lot of people (Chinese people of coure) were shopping here. Many will see this as a symbol of globalization. Some Americans might see the irony in all the Wal-mart and China-bashing in the States these days, when the Chinese are also increasingly buying from Wal-mart, and are having their own union problems with Wal-mart. 
What strikes me though, is as far as shopping habits go, how potentially similar the two countries, China and the States are. I first read about Wal-mart's global attempts here. Many such attempts have failed elsewhere in the world, but they're expanding in China. Wal-mart expanded quickly since it first opened stores in China in 1996, now there are 86 stores in its 46 cities according to its corporate website, and will increase its presence even more rapidly this year with its new acquisitions. China and the States: - are both large countries with lots of space, - people are spread out (increasingly true in China with all the newly planned urban areas in China) and therefore will buy in bulk when they take time to go to the stores. - with the rise of middle class, people here drive. Anyway, to conclude, let me bring you a few more seconds of Wal-mart, China:
2 comments:
This Time article might interest you: China's Next Big Export: Inflation
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1670255,00.html
Oh cool, thanks. And I know this writer too.
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