China Travels: Where Underpants Come From

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In the tradition of WhereAmIWearing.com, New Zealand writer Joe Bennett bought a pack of five pieces of underwear from his local mega-market and then wondered where they really came from. Thus began a journey into China and beyond to find out Where Underpants Come From, subtitled From Checkout to Cotton Field - Travels Through the New China.

Bennett’s underpants journey starts out just a little slowly with some to-ing and fro-ing to get the right contacts in China, but once he steps on the plane, the story swings along. Starting out in Shanghai, Bennett takes us into factories where workers from the rural west come to make their fortune, while sleeping in dorm rooms with at least a dozen others and working 12-hour days sewing seams in underwear. Bennett gives a balanced account of what he sees in the factories of China, as best he can when you can never be sure exactly what’s being staged for the Western visitor.

This book gets out of the factories too, and into the culture of China. A gradually developing skill for using chopsticks and a few more phrases in Mandarin see Bennett getting more involved with the locals as he gets further away from Shanghai, out into the countryside where the elastic bands for his underpants were produced. A side trip to Thailand explores where the rubber came from, but Bennett returns to China to track down the origins of the fabric. It might sound like an odd premise for a travel adventure, but it’s well written and compelling, and though-provoking as well, in today’s world where the growing power of China is something we’re all interested in.

Tags: China | Joe Bennett | Travel Books | Where Underpants Come From