Walmart: Buy Local?

The blogger, Alexander Lee, standing in the plaza of Changchun's Walmart beneath the Spring Festival Coke display that came down the next day. Photo credit: Andrew Vihstadt.

The signage in Asia-- a topic of a previous post-- is constantly amusing to all native English speakers. Photo credit: Andrew Vihstadt.

Those of you who know me well or have some familiarity with my work history, know that, in 2005, I put in some serious time with the WakeUp Walmart campaign of the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW), when Robert Greenwald's movie, Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices, ushered in the era of grassroots documentary film debuts.

Before I left for China, I joked that I could join the "buy local" movement by purchasing things at Walmart when I arrived here. Last week, I did just that. Though I did not spend much, I wandered the aisles in awe.

One evening, I met my new friend, Bettina, for supper and our meeting place was here in the shadow of this monstrosity.

Do you like fresh fish? How about a turtle? If not, head to the produce section for some dragon fruit or to the eggs section, where each chicken's egg has an individual sticker affixed, but you can also find century eggs and quail eggs by the dozen.

Drying for Freedom is coming soon

As my friends at White Lantern put the finishing touches on Drying for Freedom, I hope that it meets the same success that the Walmart movie did. I have watched a new iteration and think that people will enjoy the footage, which includes interviews with luminaries like Rajendra K. Pachauri, Ph.D. and yours truly (ha!). Stay tuned...