The clash of globalization (with Jeff)

Ürümqi. The most remote city in the world from any sea. Unless you count the sea of brown arid plateau and desert sprawling across western China. I've towed my luggage out of the domestic arrival terminal and across a large parking lot to the international terminal. The latter apparently only opens a couple times per day, on an as-needed basis. Between the travelers loosely crowded about the steps leading to the entrance and the official airport employees, no one looks "Chinese." If I was limited to a guess, I might say I was in the Caucasus. The ethnic diversity in China is rarely emphasized, perhaps not least because the government finds it simplest to suppress this fact.

In any case, most of the travelers turn out to be Uzbeks returning to their home country, on the same direct flight I'm taking to Tashkent. The terminal lobby opens but everything else lags. We all ooze inside waiting to check luggage. As I get my bearings, there is a gradual milling about me of heavily loaded luggage carts. But its not just suitcases. Virtually everyone has their own cart, if not two, piled high with humidfiers, food processors, dishware sets, spiderman comforters, baby bamboo plants 1 meter long, portable air conditioners, tea sets, flat screen TVs, even a Chinese version of monopoly. I spot a tricycle. So much for the 3oz fluid limit. There are huge jugs of, I don't know what. All the bags and boxes are wrapped or reinforced excessively with yellow or blue packing tape. Despite this, two stations for wrapping luggage with plastic or metal ties are receiving plenty of patronage. In fact it has just begun

Until the time the turnstile moves and I head to the aircraft cabin, there is constant ambient sound in the way of the loud ripping sound that packing tape makes when you unwrap a piece from the roll. At least a dozen rolls were constantly shrieking as the spiders around me turned their luggage into virtual cocoons. This must be the worst baggage handling airline in the world. What other explanation for this surrealistic scene could there be? I thought about weight and center of gravity calculations for the aircraft. If the aircraft wasn't full we would be fine, but there was no way any sane aircrew would try to takeoff had all the seats been filled with passengers bringing the collections I saw around me.

It dawned on me that this was the free market and consumerism smacking me in the face. Americans were not the only ones infatuated with cheap manufactured goods from China. These modern and well dressed dark haired Uzbeks were obviously at the high end of prosperity in their society, and they were on a shopping spree. Were the acquisitions ancillary to a tourist visit? Or had most of these people literally flown to China for the sole purpose of bagging loot? Did this happen every day on flights from western China to Tashkent? What of the tape and the packing? Was that practical or more symbolic evidence of some sort of determination and paranoia regarding opportunity in the post Soviet Union era?

I chatted with a friendly young man about Uzbekistan, my trip, and America. He confirmed the basics of the theory I had deduced. Flights were not normally like this, only the ones from China. The power of low-priced consumer goods was real, as if Wal-Mart hadn't proved such already. Thus I watched globalization in the developing world happen before my eyes. Unfortunately, it wasn't very pleasant as the whole mess had a lot to do with me spending over three hours in the baggage pickup and customs before finally making it to my hotel at 4AM. Or maybe what was needed was some globalization regarding transfer of efficient techniques for customs operations from some other country that actually has a clue about organizing lots of people. Like China.

Squeezing In a Little Vacation Time While Crafting a Legacy

Bush has worked so hard during his presidency, it's time he recreated a little. Maybe by visiting with leadership in Seoul on a stop-off, he can write off a jaunt to the Olympics as 'official business'. And he has promised to observe conditions in Beijing carefully. When he can't trust the left-biased media, or his own diplomatic corps, the Decider has to have a look for himself.
It's not as if China has been impressing the global community in the lead-up to its Olympics. First it tried to sweep Tibet's unrest under the rug; the air quality in Beijing is prohibitive to athletics (I think that was the ostensible reason for the gathering?) after China promised to clean it, and the latest is another fine example: China has just revoked the visa, 24 hours before his projected departure, of an American gold-medal speedskater, Joey Cheek, who happens to be the co-founder of a political awareness group called Team Darfur.
But I suppose this is not reason enough for Bush to change his holiday plans. Maybe he doesn't know any better than to add the honor of the personal appearance of the President of the United States to an Olympics already riddled with ethical obstacles.